


Dragon in Exile

by ChelleyPam



Category: Game of Thrones (TV), Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 61,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27228331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChelleyPam/pseuds/ChelleyPam
Summary: It was natural for an adopted child to be curious about where he came from.  Jaehaerys just didn’t expect his origin story to be this... weird.Nor did he ever expect to ever have to face an unknown past for the sake of his family.
Relationships: Bernard Baylor/Runa Etterson, Catalina Baylor/Alessandro Sagredo, Jaehaerys Targaryen/OFC, Nevada Baylor/Connor "Mad" Rogan
Comments: 17
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before people start scolding me, I’m not sorry for starting another story. This one is something of an experiment in that I’m attempting it in First Person. That’s how the Hidden Legacy series is written, so we’re going to give it a go.
> 
> Not sure how this will turn out. I’m not used to First Person POV and... well... I’m not male.
> 
> Here’s hoping to don’t make our beloved Jae sound too much like a girl.

“Just tell me one thing; tell me we aren’t doing this because you think you’re somehow less to us than your brothers and sister.”

I blinked. I must have looked like a cat who had just been popped on the nose. Is that what he and Mom thought? “No! I know you love me. I just... I just want to know where I come from.”

Dad held my gaze, one dark brow arched. Connor Rogan had a way of making you want to stand up straighter, shoulders back, and hope that the crease in your pants was razor sharp. Hard to do any of those in the seat of an SUV. 

“I promise, Dad. This has nothing to do with feeling insecure. I know you and Mom love me. I just want to know who they were.”

He sat in silence a moment longer. I started to feel terrible. Was asking this hurting them? Did they think I didn’t love them, too?

Finally he nodded and took the keys out of the ignition. “All right, then. Let’s do this.”

“I don’t understand why we had to do this at the Baylor compound, though.” It made me nervous that Aunt Lina had to be part of the conversation. That meant it had to do with something that was particularly nasty. Auntie Lina was the Warden of the State of Texas, the ultimate authority of law and order when it came to matters involving the magical elite. 

“Because if this had happened at any other time in their lives, you would have gone to Catalina and Alessandro instead of being placed with us.”

We got out fo the SUV and I opened the back door to let Tyrys out. “What do you mean?”

“It was the last official action of Linus Duncan before he retired and turned over being the Warden to Lina. Sorting out that mess was too big a job to focus on raising an infant with your specific needs. You were this close to being a Baylor instead of a Rogan.” He held up one hand, thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart.

‘Why those two houses? Why not someone else? Like an animal mage house or a pyro?”

“You’ll see.”

The Baylor compound was solid, well secured and unassuming. Looking at it, you’d never think that one of the scariest men aside from Dad lived there. Most people didn’t fear Catalina. They respected her, but they didn’t fear her.

Most people were dumb like that.

We’d passed through security on the drive up, so there was no need to go through another check. Even if we hadn’t been cleared by the dogs used to make sure an illusion mage wasn’t putting on a trusted face, Tyrus was more than proof enough that it was me, which mean Dad was Connor. The timber wolf wouldn’t let anyone else that close to me wearing that face if the scent didn’t match. We let ourselves in the front door. Neither the Rogans nor the Baylors were really the ‘butler’ kind of family.

“Lina! We’re here!”

“Kitchen! I’m making fajitas!”

Was she cooking because it was half past noon and lunch time or was she cooking because she was nervous? Auntie Lina cooked when she was nervous or jittery. I never minded. She was an amazing cook. And the aroma of meat cooking on the grill wafted to us the closer we got in that direction. We found her in the kitchen, as promised. 

Catalina Baylor was still gorgeous. A lot of men envied Uncle Al, half for her beauty and the other half for her magic. She had dark hair that was starting to get a few strands of silver in it, lightly tanned skin and kept herself in excellent shape to the point that you’d never know she had three kids now all in their teens. The Terrible Trio would be in school at the moment, and Alessandro was no where to be seen.

Dad snagged a chip from a bowl and scooped up some guacamole. She made it herself and it was better than anything you would find in even the best Tex Mex places in Houston. “Where’s Alessandro?”

“He’s wrapping up a case.”

“Himself?”

She smirked as she grabbed up a platter and some tongs to fetch the steak from the grill. “The client was being particularly irritating. You know him. He just loves a chance to call someone on their bullshit and smack them across the face with their own idiocy.”

Dad gave a chuckle while I pondered if I should pretend everything was normal and help myself to the chips and guacamole or if I should make it clear that I was nervous. Tyrus had no such problem and followed her out, likely hoping she’d give him part of the skirt steak she pulled off the grill. She carried it back through the glass doors, covered it in a tent of foil to rest, and instead fetched a plate of raw meat she’d clearly set aside just for him.

I opted to set the small family sized table rather than fidget like a moron.

“Thank you, Jae. That’s sweet of you.” She came over to give me a brief but warm hug and I felt a kiss against my hair. “You did such a good job with the boys, Connor. What went wrong with Shevy?”

“There’s nothing wrong with Shevy.”

I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. “She’s his precious little princess, perfect in every way.”

Lina sniggered while Dad pretended to be offended on Siobhan’s behalf. 

We sat down and enjoyed our fajitas. They were perfectly seasoned and the tortillas were warm and soft, just like I liked them. Mom didn’t cook much. Dad was the one who did the bulk of it when we were younger and he taught us all how. He had been taught by his mother who didn’t like having other people cook her food. He had told us that when she was a child in Basque Country, a rival house had poisoned the birthday pastries intended for the children. They found out when a cousin had stolen one of the puffs early and eaten it, resulting in a fight between the kids and a delay of the party. The cousin died. Since then, Amorosa was very particular about her food and had decided she wouldn’t eat anything she hadn’t prepared herself and for which she couldn’t account the source of all the ingredients. She also collapsed the rival house’s villa onto their heads, wiping them out during a family get together when she got older.

It was a good rule to live by . In our world, houses warred with one another and they weren’t above killing the children, too. Dad was paranoid, and he raised us in his footsteps. 

There was no chance Auntie Lina would poison us. She liked us too much.

I helped clear up the table afterwards. I was fully aware that other young primes didn’t do such things. They were from established houses and had grown up in wealth and privilege, with servants to see to such tasks. None of us had known it wasn’t the norm for the majority of our lives. Dad wasn’t one to have a lot of servants because he didn’t like having too many people around and most of his employees were ex soldiers who had more important things to do other than to pick up after us. Mom had grown up ‘normal’, outside of prime society because her parents had been hiding her and her sisters for their formative years. They hadn’t grown up with money but rather working for the family firm, Baylor Investigations, which was now under Auntie Lina’s control. They did their own cleaning, their own cooking and they didn’t put on airs. Some looked down on them for it, but others appreciated it. They treated you the same whether you were a rich, fourth-generation prime or just a regular guy trying to find your kid who ran away from home and was living on the street somewhere. We were ‘just folks’, and we liked it that way.

“So, your dad says you’ve put your foot down about your birth parents.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She gave me a sad smile. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.” She put down the cloth she’d wiped the counters down with. “Come on. I set things up this morning.”

We went past her office to the media room of all places. She motioned for us to sit down on one of the comfy sofas, well broken in from family movie nights, and took a seat at the edge of a recliner catty cornered from me across the low coffee table. 

“You know that the Office of the Warden is tasked with investigating incidents involving a magical threat to humanity.” I nodded. “Part of that is making sure the Osiris Serum stays locked up. Over two decades ago, before you were born, there was a breach in one of the vaults and several vials of the serum were stolen. It was a joint effort by multiple parties, and it took us a long time to track down all the samples and shut the whole mess down.”

I swallowed. The Osiris Serum was discovered by accident when the world tried desperately to find a cure for a particularly deadly form of influenza had been ravaging the globe. It hadn’t been their intent, and it set everything on its ear. If you took it, one of three equally likely scenarios would happen: You died, you were turned into some horrific monster and then you died, or your latent magical ability would be brought to the surface. Seemingly overnight regular people gained the ability to hurl fire balls from their hands, shoot lightning from their fingers, send people into a mass panic or, if they were like Dad, hurl heavy objects and break buildings with their minds. Then the First World War broke out and we saw what they could really do.

After that, it was mutually agreed upon that the serum would be locked up, but the genie was out of the bottle. The abilities proved hereditary and passed on to the subsequent generations, giving rise to the Houses. Now the world had a class of people who were, while not really above the law, in many ways outside of it. Strong magic meant wealth and privilege, and some still sought to increase their strength whenever possible. They may have locked up the serum, but that didn’t stop people from trying to augment themselves, sometimes by very illegal and inhuman means. 

“Usually when experimentation is done, the people who are the subjects are the desperate. The homeless. The addicts. The ones on the edge of financial ruin willing to do anything to provide for their families. But all of these things can be traced. People report when loved ones go missing. No matter how careful you are, test subjects disoriented from pain or driven mad by what was done to them can escape. Bodies might turn up. It’s a risk some are willing to take, and one that the Wardens can’t allow.

“You know how mages rarely admit to everything that they can do?”

“Yes.” That was an understatement. You didn’t blab about everything you could do. Mom was a truth seeker, and most thought they only detected when you were lying, but that was her ‘passive’ talent, always on. Few knew that a truth seeker could lock you in place and make you tell her everything you knew. And if they didn’t want to be careful about it, they could magically lobotomize you. People knew Alessandro was an Antastasi Prime, able to nullify a magical attack and shield your mind from mental attacks, but almost no one knew that he could expand that ability to knock out all magic in a several block area, summon swords of light out of nothing that could slice through metal, nor did they know that he could duplicate any weapon nearby for his own personal use. It made him absolute hell to fight.

You didn’t tell people these things because you didn’t want your potential enemies to know what to prepare for.

“House Swift is a Summoning house, which usually is known for calling up things from the arcane realm to fight their battles for them. However, they have a secondary talent that, as far as we know, has not yet manifested in any other house. They have the ability to open portals or doors that they can pass through to other worlds.” What? Summoners didn’t go into the astral realm, they just pulled things out of it. “ Some aren’t that impressive or only contain flora or fauna. There are some, however, that have established races and cultures, and some of these must be parallel to our own because those cultures and races tend to be human. Or at least close enough to our own make up to be compatible.”

I realized my jaw was hanging open and clicked it shut. I considered it for a moment. “House Swift... as in... Mrs. Pierce?” Bethany Pierce, wife of Peter Pierce, Head of House Pierce, was born Bethany Swift, though her family had excised her several years before she married her boss. It had been quite the scandal. She was his second wife, as his first had been killed in House Warfare. Not only was she an excise, she wasn’t a pyromancer like House Pierce and she had an illegitimate daughter, Melody. Peter Pierce didn’t care. He and his first wife had twin sons who were both prime pyros as were his sisters two kids, so the house was secure. He’d done his duty to his house and he was going to marry for love. He and Bethany had two more boys after their marriage and he’d adopted Melody as his own. If Siobhan was Dad’s pampered princess, she looked positively neglected next to Mel.

“That’s the one. The National Assembly has since had a nice chat with House Swift about their questionable handling of their members and their apparent willingness to cut off gifted magic users for perceived slights. They kicked Bethany out because she refused to terminate her pregnancy, but she wasn’t the only one. They’ve excised a few, but Bethany and another cousin were the two most dangerous ones. Beth has her head on straight and doesn’t do anything stupid. She’s a mother and she wanted to provide for her daughter. The cousin, however, didn’t have her morals.”

“How so?”

“They aren’t officially registered as of yet, and when they do they’ll be like I was. I was considered an emergence of a new talent because there was no official record of what I can do and the one house over in Greece that had rumors of it claims the power died out in their line.” A touchy subject. The rumor was they practiced gender selective terminations to ensure they only had sons, and what Catalina could do seemed to be the strongest in women. Dad’s theory was that they were just unwilling to let a woman be in charge fo their family, so they didn’t allow themselves to have any. “They do, however, have their own way of ranking the gift. Some can only open a portal to a one or two places, no bigger than what they could reach an arm through. That’s what they consider to be ‘nominal’. Three to five places they rank as ‘average’. Notable can either open small portals up to seven or eight or maybe a portal large enough to walk through to one or two. A significant rank would be able to open portals large enough to drive vehicles through to one to four places and a prime could open them to five or more.”

“What do they use it for?”

“Precious metals and gems, rare items. They might take samples of exotic flora and work deals with plant mage houses that they would ‘create’ such things with House Swift getting a cut of the profits. They can’t do the same with animals since most animal mages wouldn’t mistreat them that way. It’s made them quite wealthy. They managed it under the noeses of the Assembly for decades.”

“You have to admire the cleverness of it all.” Dad’s voice was a mix of dryness and admiration. “Since they’re the only house that can do it, as far as we know, they have a monopoly on anything they bring back.”

“Exactly. And, as I said, some of those worlds have people in them.”

My stomach felt a bit queasy. “People no one here would report missing.”

Lina’s smile was sad. “You always were too clever for your own good.” She nodded. “Yes, and as I said, the Swift cousin didn’t have very good morals. One of the groups behind the theft of the serum hired him to help them secure test subjects from somewhere no one would think to look.”

“My parents.”

“Your mother, and the men who were tasked with guarding her. From what we learned in our investigation, your father died before they were taken. That world was at war and he was killed in battle.”

She reached over and picked up a remote from the table. “We have video of the interview with one of the men taken with her. The serum...warped him, but he maintained an amazing amount of mental clarity in spite of it. He didn’t last long, which was a mercy given how much pain he was in. We had a prime telepath with us, and they were able to... link with him to learn his language. There is an audio translation put over the video so you can understand what’s being said.”

She handed me the remote. I looked at it, then at the blank screen of the HD television that took up most of a wall before me. I must havre sat there a while because Dad’s large, broad hand rested on my shoulder, giving me a jolt. 

“Take your time, Jae. If you want, we can wait and come back tomorrow or whenever you’re ready.”

I shook my head. “No, I want to do this.”

Lifting the remote, I woke up the screen and hit ‘play’.

The recording was taken in some type of hospital room. A man lay on the the bed. It was impossible to know if he’d always been that big or if the serum had made him that big when it had magic warped him. I couldn’t know if he’d been handsome at one time or not. The reaction his body had to the serum had left him looking something like a cross between a baboon and how I imagined a Neanderthal would look, but with yellow, scaly skin. One eye was green and had a slit pupil like a cat, but the other was human and a beautiful shade of violet.

A voice spoke in a language I didn’t know, but the English voice over was immediate. “What is your name?”

The man spoke, his voice raspy and guttural, as though trying to speak through a cold. “Ser Arthur Dayne, of House Dayne. Sword of the Morning. Kingsguard to Rhaegar Targaryen and his son, the Rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms.”

“What can you tell me of the people who brought you here?”

“Sorcerers. Monsters.” He swallowed. “They attacked us at the tower, where we guarded the princess.” He became agitated, struggling against the bonds that kept him to the bed. The beeping of the heart monitor beside the bed began to quickly. “Release me! I must go to them! I must protect Princess Lyanna! I must guard my king!”

The voice of the doctor could be heard. “He is becoming agitated. The man doesn’t have much time left to him! Let him have some peace!”

Another voice, deep and with authority answered. “All the more reason to do this now. We need to know what happened and he’s the only one able to tell us.”

The man asking the questions, I assumed he was the telepath, put a hand on Ser Arthur’s arm. “The baby is safe. The men who did this to you are dead. They cannot harm him.”

Dayne looked at him with his mis matched eyes, his breathing shallow and quick. “The princess?”

There was a pause. “I’m sorry. She didn’t make it.”

He closed his eyes in pain. “My Prince, I failed you.” He opened them again. “Did they... do this to her?”

“She didn’t have the same reaction as you. The serum did not kill her. Lack of care on the part of your captors did. They did nothing to help her after the delivery. By the time our people breached the compound and found her, she was too far gone.”

“The babe? A boy?”

“It was a boy. He’s healthy.”

The man on the bed smiled. “Long live Jaehaerys Targaryen, third of his name.”

“Jaehaerys? His mother kept repeating that before she passed. We didn’t know what it meant. It is a name?”

He nodded. “Visenya if a daughter. Jaehaerys for a son, after Jaehaerys the Wise.” There was an almost reverent quality to his voice.

The voice from off to the side broke in again. “We need to know more about the team that took them.”

The telepath nodded. “The people who attacked the tower, did you know them?”

“No... they were not of Westeros. Not Essosi. They wore strange clothes, like yours.” He swallowed. “They carried unnatural weapons that fired invisible lightning. It made our bodies seize up. I heard the princess and her maids screaming but could not help them!” He started to become agitated again. “I could not move to help them! Rhaegar! Rhaegar I failed you! I could not protect your wife!”

He began to cough in deep, ragged booms. The doctor moved forward to administer something to the IV line. “He can’t keep this up for much longer.”

“Did you see anything when they came? Anything odd? Such as a ball of spinning light or strangely colored lightning?”

Dayne’s breathing was ragged. “There was.... there was a dark swirl.... like night but it was clear day. The air... burnt, like after a summer storm.”

The commander’s voice grumbled. “Sounds like a summoning portal.”

They rode in a great wheelhouse of glass and steel, but there were no horses to draw it.”

“He’s never seen a troop transport before?”

“I don’t think he’s from around here, Sir.”

“Jaehaerys! He is the king! He was king form his first breath! I must.... I mus...”

The man seized up on the bed, his body convulsing and jerking as he struggled to breathe. The medical team rushed forward, trying to save him, but his body crashed. 

I continued to watch as they worked in vain to resuscitate him, the steady, unbroken beep of the monitor in my ears. Eventually the footage ran out and the image stopped on a still of the broken man in the bed and the medical staff hovering around him.

“It was a good eight years before we made the connection to House Swift. They covered their tracks well, and even when we had enough pieces to make the connection, they dodged our investigation attempts like pros. However, Bethany was very motivated to help us. The portal ability for a mage seems to be connected to a set world or worlds, not just any one they stumble upon. She recognized some of the names and the description, especially the family name Targaryen and the country of Westeros. I learned some new curse words when she realized what someone in her family had been doing with their powers.”

“What did she have to say?” I was hurt that she never talked to me about it, but information surrounding the misuse of the Osiris Serum and experimentation was taboo for a reason. The world didn’t want a repeat of the Time of Terrors.

“The Targaryens were the ruling family of a country called ‘Westeros’ which was made up of seven different provinces that used to be their own kingdoms until the Targaryens came over the sea riding giant, fuck off dragons. Think... a culture with 21st century weaponry invading a country still stuck in the Iron Age. The locals didn’t stand a chance. They held control by being the only ones with dragons for a long time, but over the ages the dragons diminished, becoming smaller and less fertile until they died out. The theory was that they didn’t do well with captivity.”

“Dragons?” I almost choked on the word. 

“Remember, different world. Perhaps even a different dimension entirely.”

“Right. Got it.”

“Anyway, they also had a lamentable tendency towards inbreeding in order to keep their ‘blood pure’, but you came out all right. She suspects the ‘Lyanna’ in question was probably a girl named Lyanna Stark of House Stark. The war was just starting to kick off when she was forced to leave and it started over Rhaegar taking off with your mother. It was claimed he kidnapped her, but Beth doesn’t think that’s the case.”

“Why is that?”

“Because of Arthur Dayne and Rhaegar’s reputation. She doesn’t think that Rhaegar was the kind of man to lose his head over a pretty girl and steal her, and if he did, she doesn’t think Arthur Dayne would have just stood by and let it happen. Kingsguard or not, he would have tried to talk some sense into the man. He was already married and had two children, one of them not even a year old yet. And there was the interview with Dayne. He called Lyanna a princess and referred to her as Rhaegar’s wife. He called you ‘Jaehaerys Targaryen’, which by Westerosi custom would mean you were legitimate as a bastard was given the surname based on where they were born; Snow for the north, Rivers if in the Riverlands, Sand if born in Dorne where your mother was hidden before the attack. Indication is that Lyanna was with Rhaegar of her own will.”

“She also said that your grandfather, Aerys Targaryen, was bat shit insane. Also obsessed with burning things.”

That wasn’t good. “Were they pyromancers?”

“According to Bethany the legends said there was magic, but that it died when the dragons died. At the time she was there, it was just a myth. She also says the legends claimed true Targaryens didn’t burn, so it’s possible that there was a latent predisposition to pyrokenesis, which could explain why the exposure you had to the serum en utero resulted in you manifesting pyrokenesis as well as theriomancy. She didn’t know much about the Starks, other than they were well respected by many but considered by some to be ‘savages’ or ‘barbrians’ because they were from the North and still followed the Old Gods rather than the accepted religion of the Seven followed in the South. Their house sigil is a Dire Wolf and their house words are ‘Winter is Coming’. Seasons can last years in that world, including winters. Their stories tell about a winter that lasted at least forty years with little or no sunlight during which many people died from the cold and starvation.”

Tyrus rested his head on my knee and I scratched his ears. The bond between us was calming. I was his friend and his family, his pack. “Sounds like a lovely place.”

“And no indoor plumbing. Or vaccines. Or modern medicine. She says living there for nearly two years while her family claimed she was ‘studying abroad’ meant that she had no problems living in near poverty when her family excised her. Even the poorest in our society live quite well compared to the small folk of Westeros.” She used air quotes for the ‘studying abroad’.

Good point. Modern man had it quite well. 

“You okay?” Dad’s voice pulled me out of my reverie. I must have been sitting there for a while. His blue eyes seemed to bore right though me. We could never get by with keeping secrets from Dad. He always knew when you were up to something, and he was the easy one. Mom was a fucking truth seeker. You couldn’t get by with anything with her around. Like all kids, we tried. Smacked down, each and every time.

“So... I don’t even belong here?”

His brow creased. “Don’t be an idiot. You were born here, in this world. Doesn’t matter where you were conceived, those assholes brought your pregnant mother over here to run their tests and experiments on her. Experiments that likely made you what you are. You’ve lived under my roof since before you were two months old and you legally carry my name. You are my son, no matter whose blood flows through your veins or where your biological parents came from. You are part of _this_ family.”

And that was Dad in a nutshell. I had seen and heard him put more than one jackass in their place when they made some comment about me not being his ‘real son’. He was far scarier than Tyrus or any of my animals on their worst day. And he was the soft, cuddly one. People pissed themselves when Mom had them in her cross hairs. Given that she was a dual with a secondary talent of Magus Sagittarius, meaning she did not miss what she was aiming at, that was sometimes very literal.

He looked over to Auntie Lina. “The war started over his parents wanting to be together?”

She grimaced. “In a simplified boil down of it.” She picked up a tablet lying on the side table next to her chair and thumbed it on. “When we made the connection to House Swift, Bethany helped us shake down her estranged family for what details they can provide. They send their kids into habitable places for two to four years to scope things out, establish trade contacts and survey for goods and items that may be of value here. They are encouraged to keep detailed records and notes. From what they reported, Lyanna’s brother, Brandon, rode to the capitol and demanded the king make his son give her back. The king had him arrested for treason and sent for his father, Rickard, to answer for his son’s behavior. The nobility allow trial by combat and Rickard said he’d stand as his son’s champion, but Aerys declared fire as his. They had Rickard suspended over a fire while in full plate mail to be roasted alive. Brandon was tied with a fastened rope around his neck and a sword to cut his father free just out of reach. He strangled himself to death trying to get to it.”

“Fuck.” Dad rubbed a hand over his eyes. “You didn’t tell me that part before.”

“We didn’t know it at the time.”

I swallowed. So at least one of my grandfather’s was insane and he’d killed the other one. I willed my fajitas to stay down in my stomach. “Is there any of my mother’s family left after that?”

“Rickard had two other sons. Brandon was the first born, and after his death Eddard Stark became the Lord of Winterfell. After that, the North couldn’t stay out of the war. Lyanna had been betrothed to a Lord Robert Baratheon who called for an uprising to get her back. He and Eddard had been fostered together with a Lord Jon Arryn so they were close. After Aerys killed his father and brother, his bannermen would have demanded action, so the North supported the rebellion. Last reports they had to give us, Baratheon won, he killed your father in single combat. Aerys was killed by one of his own Kingsguard, a Ser Jamie Lannister. His father, Lord Tywin Lannister, led the sacking of the capital and oversaw the murder of Elia Martell and your half siblings, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon. Robert was declared king by virtue of having Targaryen blood himself through his grandmother. They were unable to find your mother, of course, and eventually he was convinced to marry Cersei Lannister. Bethany didn’t care for that. Seems like Cersei was the reason she had to leave Westeros so quickly. She didn’t say why, but she called the woman a ‘stuck up, entitled cunt’.”

What a mess. It felt like some badly written made for TV movie. “What a fucking nightmare. How did you find my mother at all?”

“Gestational Transference. The notes they made on your mother indicated that the serum brought out theriomancy in her. Strong, too, but they had her in a secure bunker. However, when you’re carrying a child who is also going to be a powerful prime, the baby’s magic can meld with the mother. In this case, it amplified your mother’s powers to the point that she stirred up the wildlife within five miles and drew them towards the compound. Certainly got our attention. It’s unlikely she understood what she was doing. She may not even have fully been aware of it, given her high state of distress at the abduction and being in a strange place. But the behavior was so far out of the norm is couldn’t go unnoticed, and it wasn’t hard for other theriomancers to determine that magic was at work. The compound was located on the Texas and Oklahoma border, so a joint strike team was put together by the wardens of both states. House Rogan supplied the bulk of the man power since we already had a working relationship with them, and House Harrison ran point for the animal mages who joined us. The compound was breached and the threat neutralized. We weren’t in time to save Lyanna Stark but we were able to stop one of the researchers from running off with you.”

Lina took my hands in hers. “We suspect that they decided a fully grown woman who was a new mage would be too difficult to handle, but that they could mold and shape a newborn into whatever or whoever they wanted. The gestational transference already confirmed you were a prime. You and your mother were both successes in their experiments, but you would be easier for them to control.”

It made sense. It hurt and I wanted to scream and rage. How terrified must she have been? Pregnant and already a widow, now she was with people who hurt her and who took her child from her. That poor woman. I knew she was my mother, and part of me did hurt for her, but I had never known her. It was an odd pain, and a child’s anger. I suppose I should have been relieved that I wasn’t a child tossed aside because I wasn’t wanted. I hadn’t been abandoned. I had been their lab rat. To test something as toxic and dangerous as the Osiris Serum on an expectant woman... how depraved could the human race actually sink?

“How did I come to be with House Rogan?”

“Well, that was an argument that spanned over a week and a half and involved several people too enamored with smelling their own farts.” Lina didn’t have the highest option of politicians. Or of most primes, even though she was one. So many of them were self-centered , narcissistic assholes. “We never let the theft of the serum get out in the general public’s knowledge. It’s not something you advertise. We kept the reclamation of it as quiet as possible. On the other hand, no one was going to make a baby disappear. At least not when so many who would be against such an action were watching. Some argued to put you with a theriomancy house, but...well, you know how crucial it is that a child with your abilities be properly socialized.”

I knew. Magic and power came with a price, and that price depended on the talent. People like me started bonding with animals before we even learned to talk. Dogs. Cats. Rats if they were around. Birds outside the nursery window. Some even have a natural bent towards insects. We spoke to animals before we learned to speak with people, and there were many like me who were never properly socialized and never learned to speak at all. Theriomancers were in danger of never developing a sense of empathy or making substantial connections with other people. They might bond with their parents, but if the parents were also animal mages the bond might not be fully returned. 

“You needed a loving, stable family home. You certainly couldn’t be raised in a sterile environment, which was something suggested by a few. Even the animal mages argued against you being raised as a lab rat though none of them were particularly interested in taking you. And wherever you went, the family needed to be someone who could provide the physical security as well as keep their mouths shut about your origins.”

“Nevada and I were a perfect fit.” Dad’s hand rubbed my shoulder reassuringly. “We already had Sean and Liam, and Siobhan was barely eight months old. And with the variety of magic in the Baylor family as well as amongst my own people, there was a wide array of talents you could be exposed to.”

“And,” Lina added, “we have a strong friendship and alliance with House Harrison, including Cornelius working directly for House Baylor so that there would be a skilled animal mage available to teach you the ins and outs of your magic. When your pyromancy manifested I was able to reach out to Tatiana Pierce and ask her to assist as well. House Pierce was still trying to shed off the stink Adam Pierce left them with when he decided to go terrorist on the city and she had come to know me during an earlier case as well as having been trying to patch up the more cordial relationship she’d once had with Diana Harrison at school. By bringing you into our family we could make sure that you had a happy and stable life. We could also shield and protect you should any of the people involved in the whole affair tried to reclaim you to continue their work.”

“They’d be stupid to try it now. You’re far more than they could have hoped for, but you’re not a baby any longer. You know how to take care of yourself.” I could hear the proud smile in Dad’s voice. “You’d wipe the floor up with them.”

“Alesssandro and I would have taken you, but Linus decided then would be a good time to retire from being the warden, which meant i was promoted into his position. That kind of power shift comes with a crap ton of baggage. I wouldn’t have been able to provide you the level of attention of care you deserved and needed if I was busy batting away attempts from random places trying to test out the strength of the new warden.”

“The day I brought you home from the final meeting sorting it all out, it was love at first sight. I’d called Nevada and told her what was going on, of course. Couldn’t just show up at the door and say ‘Hi Honey, i know we already have one baby under a year, but I thought we could easily handle a second one’. She loved you before she even saw you, and when I put you in her arms it was final. For both of us. The boys were thrilled. They didn’t really want a sister at the time. They took to you far quicker than they did to Shevy.”

I looked at the still image again. “What about her? Lyanna? Do you have any footage of her?”

Catalina’s expression looked pained. “Jae, you don’t want to watch that.”

Probably not. “I want to know what she looks like. Hear her voice.” I swallowed. “I want to know what they did to her.”

She met Dad’s eyes over my head.

“He can handle it.”

She nodded, then, and pulled up the file on her tablet. She handed it over and I told it to start.

She was young. Far too young to be married and pregnant. Long dark hair, the same shade as mine. A few clips were close enough that I could tell her eyes were the same shade of grey. She was long in the face and not conventionally pretty, but there was a... spark to her. A strength that made her beautiful. I suppose that I could be viewing her through a child’s eyes, but I like to believe anyone would have found her so.

There wasn’t a voice over with these clips ,but someone had added subtitles. There were clips of her banging her hands and fists against the clear wall of her cell, shouting that she was Lyanna Targaryen and that they were to release her immediately. She was the She Wolf of Winterfell and would not tolerate this treatment! Demanding to know where her guards were. Screaming that her kin would come for her. Scenes of the techs and doctors coming to her and her fighting back the best she could as they held her down to take blood samples. Fighting as she was strapped down to a narrow hospital bed when they grew tired of her aggression.

The worst was when she went into labor. I was aware I was shaking, my hands in a double fist and my teeth biting into my knuckles as she screamed my name again and again as they took me away from her. She jerked and pulled against her restraints, trying to get free so she could take me back. The background of the recording included the muffled booms and voices as the strike team breached the compound, and my mother was left there still screaming out my name.

The screen went blank after the last frame and I was left looking at my reflection in the screen. I was crying. I’d never seen Dad cry and I couldn’t remember the last time me or my brothers had. We all tried so hard to be strong and stoic like “Mad” Rogan, but the tears wouldn’t stay back. I just looked at myself while my mind replayed her face until a cut crystal glass came up to float by my head. Looking over, I saw the whiskey held up by telekenesis. I was only nineteen, too young to drink legally by sometimes they let us have a glass of wine with a special dinner or spiked egg nog. They didn’t let us have straight hard liquor. 

He must have thought I needed it.

I would like to claim that I downed it like a champ, but I’d ever had whiskey before and hadn’t expected it to burn so much. It burned worse when I inhaled from shock and there was quite a bit of coughing. I’m fairly sure it made my eyes water worse, but I accepted the second drink. With two of them in me, the warmth began to take affect. 

“Did the Assembly ever determine how many we got?”

“No. We know we didn’t get all of them, and we didn’t get the portal mage. He didn’t go crawling back to House Swift but he hasn’t turned up anywhere else, either. It’s possible he’s just that good at hiding, but Beth says it’s more likely he’s hiding somewhere in one of the worlds he has access to. Obviously he could manage living in Westeros, or Planetoss as the natives call it, there’s more than the one nation, but she doesn’t know anything about the other worlds he could reach. They could be habitable or they might not.”

Dad growled. I think I may have as well, because Tyrus did. “You’ll let me know if any more turn up?”

“If I can. Don’t give me that look. I’m still the Warden here. Chances are I’ll be more than happy to bring you in if we need the muscle, but I’m out going to straight up promise you. The main thing I need is for you and Nevada to keep Jae safe. He’s at less risk now that he’s fully trained and a dual prime, but if they get greedy enough they might still try to reclaim him for further testing.”

“I’d like to see them try.”

“I would rather they didn’t. Don’t put me in a position to have to take you down before you level the city in a rage, Connor. I’d prefer to avoid any situation that results in your taking Houston apart looking for your son.”

He would, too. There was a reason they called him the ‘Butcher of Merida’ and the ‘Scourge of Mexico’. Dad had done a lot of damage while in the Army. It had been a violent and bloody war, and Connor Rogan had been the United States’ super weapon on the battlefield. 

The door opened at the front of the house. A feminine voice yelled “I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!”, followed by footsteps running up a flight of stairs, then somewhere overhead, then a door slamming shut.

We were all looking up at the ceiling now.

“Well,” came Lina’s dry voice, “sounds like the first day of school was interesting.”

“She reminds me of you.”

“I was never that dramatic.”

“Sure you weren’t.”

A sigh that could only be from someone younger than me drew our attention to the door of the media room. Michael stood there, his Crownover Academy blazer rumpled, tie loosened and backpack slung over one shoulder. “The dean wants to meet with you and Dad tomorrow.”

“What happened?”

“She got into a fight with Casey Nelson and her bitch squad. They were saying she was home schooled this long because she was too stupid to go to regular school. Mandy punched Casey then rammed her face into the wall. Pretty sure she broke her nose. Then Frida jumped the other two. They only knew how to pull hair and scratch, so it wasn’t a fair fight.”

“I see. And where is Frida?”

“Made a beeline for the kitchen. Why do I have sisters again?”

“Because I have trouble telling your father ‘no’.”

Michael made a horrified face and held up his hands in submission as he backed away from the door. “Too much! That’s too much! I’ll be in my room!”

Lina drew in a breath, then let it out. “I love my children. They keep my life interesting.” 

“You probably have half an hour before Nelson calls screaming bloody murder.”

“Probably. I better go get Amanda’s side of things before that happens.” She looked at me. “You gonna be okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I just... need to process.”

“I told Beth I’d be filling you in today. She said she’d be available if you want to know any more. She was over there for a bit over two years, so she can tell you what she knew then. The laws that govern the magical houses protect the Swifts from having to disclose particulars about what they can do, and they can easily keep their House status under the summoning. As long as that’s the case, they don’t have to officially register the portal twist to it which means I can only do so much when it comes to pumping them for information. If that cousin shows back up, they’ll probably turn him in just to get the Assembly off their backs, but they don’t have to give us any of the current info they have on Westeros or your family.”

Dad scratched his chin in speculation. “You think they’d be willing to sell it to us?” 

“Possibly. Couldn’t hurt to ask. Between you and Neva you have enough political and social clout they may do it just to try and get on your good side.”

“I’ll look into it.” He looked out me. “Let’s go. She’s got parenting to do.”

We walked out of the house and got back into the SUV. “You think Andy really broke that girl’s nose?”

“Probably. Alessandro drills all three of those kids. They’re under more of a threat than most given Lina’s position. She’d never have enrolled them in Crownover otherwise. That place is a shark pool, but the security is some of the best without having to send your kids with body guards. And since they all pitch in with the firm, they can find themselves in dicey situations, they have been taught how to fight. I almost pity the dean having to put up with Frida, though.”

Frida was her father’s daughter all over. A prime antistasi with a secondary magus Sagittarius gift that was at least a notable if not at significant rank. Amanda, however, was just like her mother. A prime level siren, which was the real reason she’d been home schooled for so long. Where the rest of us have to make an effort to use the magic, she had to work not to. Until she got to the point that she wouldn’t accidentally set off a riot or turn her classmates into love sick zombies, she had to be kept closely guarded to avoid kidnapping attempts and assaults. Mom said it had been worse for Auntie Lina because back then they hadn’t known what they were dealing with. A thirty year veteran nurse had stolen her right out of the crib from the hospital the day she was born. There had also been attempts by a dentist when she was six and a teacher when they had tried to start her in kindergarten and finally realized that Catalina could not be sent to public schools. 

Michael was a prime antistasi as well with the siren talent as a second, though no one was sure if he’d be considered a significant or a male prime siren since the talent appeared to be stronger in the women. He hadn’t had the same level of difficulty, but he could make nearly anyone like him. Dad joked that he should go into politics, but Alessandro always responded that his son was too honest for such a career path.

“Call Home.”

The SUVs system obeyed the command and we listened to the phone ring a few times before my sister answered. “Rogan Asylum! Head psycho speaking!”

“We’re on our way home.”

“Okay. Mel and Mrs. Pierce are here, so I’m making pizza. I’ve got a pepperoni and a garlic and spinach. Any requests?”

Oh, pizza. “We got any shrimp?”

“You are so weird, but I love you. Shrimp it is.”

Dad smiled, though I’m not sure if it was at me, at her or both. “Try not to burn the house down.”

“I know where the extinguishers are.” The phone disconnected. And we had plenty of fire extinguishers. They’d put at least one or two in every room when my pyro talent had manifested.

“How’s your head?”

“Spinning. She.... she was so young. I... how does someone that young already get married?”

“The understanding is that it’s a culture along the lines of feudal or medieval Europe. If they follow the same general path, they could have been old school about such things.”

“Such as?”

“Old enough to bleed, old enough to breed. Though without the same abundance of food, good nutrition and the added growth hormones, the girls here probably didn’t mature sexually until fifteen or sixteen. And even then a lot of families wouldn’t have married their daughters off right away. It still would have been far earlier than twenty-first century women, but not as young as movies and fiction would say. Not if they cared about them.”

“I can’t imagine you if Shevy tried to get married that young.”

“The groom would never make it to the wedding.”

“Exactly.” Tyrus’ head popped between us and I petted him. “I’m a science experiment. That’s... disturbing.”

“The entire magical community is the result of a science experiment. One that people who want more power keep trying to copy.”

“And a lot of people died for their attempts. That Arthur Dayne guy... he must have been afraid. They all must have been. A strange world. Strangers hurting them. My mother died afraid and far away from anyone who loved or knew her.” My eyes began to sting again, but I did my best to will them to stop. “Do you know what they did with her? With the body, I mean.”

“She was cremated. They didn’t want anyone taking tissue samples. I don’t know what happened to the ashes. I’ll ask Lina to look into it for you.”

Good. That was good. “Why’d you agree to it? To taking me in?”

“Really? Because you were a baby and alone in the world. Those jackasses gave Osiris Serum to a girl who probably wasn’t even eighteen and heavily pregnant. Then other assholes actually considered bringing you up in a sterile, laboratory environment. Fuck’em. You were this tiny little person who needed someone to look out for you and love you. Your mother would have taken my head off if I’d left you behind. We had the room, had the money and we had the connections to make sure you would have the best people to teach you how to control your magic. No one was getting through my people to hurt you and you’d be able to grow up like a kid should.”

He reached over with one hand and messed up my hair. The others picked on me about it, and maybe I was vain, but I always thought it was my best feature. “You’re our kid. Never doubt it. I don’t give a fuck whose blood is in your veins or where they came from, you’re a Rogan.”

It felt like the truth. I wans’t anything like the rest of them. Dad was a telekinetic. Mom was a truth seeker. Primes usually made all decisions about marriage based on genetics and powers, and by every usual assessment the two of them should not have married. The common wisdom was that their children would have weak magic if they had any magic at all, because those two powers didn’t mix. Instead Sean was a prime telekentic with a healthy dose of the magus Sagittarius from Mom’s family. Liam was a prime truth seeker with the same level of siren talent Michael possessed on the side. Siobhan broke all the rules by coming out a dual prime, telekenesis and truth seeking. Two things that shouldn’t be in the same mage. 

I came out a dual prime, too, though now I suppose I had a better understanding as to why. The theriomancy must have come from Lyanna Stark, given that she developed the same ability. And if the rumors about the Targaryens and fire were true, that’s where I got my fire magic from. Both were rare, not as rare as truth seeking, the siren talent or Alessandro’s antistasi power, but rare enough that you didn’t meet a lot of them. I knew that Dad had been fielding offers for betrothal for both me and Siobhan for years. He said that he and Mom had married who they wanted to and he wanted the same for all of us. He was not going to be one of those people who disowned his kids because they refused to marry the person he chose for them based on them having the right type of magic and genetics.

Our home was on a large piece of land and didn’t look like the typical prime residence. Antebellum style homes were usually sought after, but Dad said he’d demolished the mansion that used to be here when he took over as Head of House and had instead built a stucco and adobe building that looked like it came out of a Zorro movie. It wasn’t nearly as stuffy or oppressive as other homes I’d visited when accompanying Mom or Cornelius on errands. 

We found Siobhan in the kitchen, pulling the last pizza out of the oven. Melody and Mrs. Pierce were at the table, with Mel giving her mother a look that communicated she wasn’t quite sure of what to think.

“Bethany, good to see you again. I hope Peter’s doing well.”

Mrs. Pierce smiled up at Dad. “Stodgy as always, but I still love him.” She looked past him to me. “How are you holding up?”

“Excuse me.” Mel held up a finger in her mother’s direction. “I’m still thinking things over here. Not only did my father have heterochromia,” she pointed to her own mismatched eyes, “and dwarfism,” which at five foot eleven she certainly did not have, “he was also an alien.”

“Tyrion was not an alien.”

“Well he wasn’t from this world.” Mel looked to me. “That’s what an alien is, right?”

This coming from someone who could summon monsters from another plane of existence entirely. Still, she had a point. I pitched my voice to mimic the antagonists from Mars Attacks. “We come in peace!”

She didn’t miss a beat and copied me. “Take us to your leader!”

That reminded me. “That’s me. Apparently I’m royalty of some kind.”

“Huh?”

Mrs Pierce slid a slice of pizza onto her plate. “That’s true. He’s the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, who if we go by the footage of the interviews and records, were married. That makes him royalty. To the point he’d have a solid claim on the throne over there.”

Mel looked at her mother, then at me. “I’m older than you. I’m not about to start kissing your ass.”

“Wait!” Siobhan was smiling brightly, eyes wide. “We’ve got an actual Disney Prince?!” She clapped her hands together like a toddler on a sugar high. “YAY!”

“Dad, gimme the keys. I’m gonna sleep at Leon’s tonight.”

“Denied.” Plates floated from the cabinets to be joined by slices of pizza mid air and mad their way to the table as he sat down. Mine had fat prawns nestled atop a thick layer of cheese and shredded spinach. Just like I liked it..

“You can even talk to animals. Now we just have to write you a sugary cute song to sing while you go traipsing through the forest.” She sat down next to me, her smile positively evil.

“You do know I can summon every rat in the area to sneak into your room and chew up all your shoes, right?”

“Children, behave.” Dad’s phone rang. He tried to impose a no phones at the table rule, but between him and Mom there was always something important coming up. “Yes? Well, that didn’t take long. Got it.” He disconnected. “Bella’s here.”

Catalina must have called her other sister to let her know what was going on. A few minutes later the front door opened and closed. A bit later Arabella arrived with an apparently boneless toddler on her hip. “I smell food.” Another plate floated out of the cabinet, accepted some pizza and took up a spot at the table. Siobhan held her arms out for the sleeping child. Good. That would distract her. “So, where are we on the coping part of the day?”

I shrugged. “We’ve determined that we’re aliens.”

“I’m only half alien. The whole alien is the one who eats shrimp on his pizza.”

Bella folded up her own slice of seafood heaven. “I like shrimp pizza.”

“Yeah but you’re a kaiju. That doesn’t count.”

“We also learned that Jae’s a Disney Prince.”

“I can see that. He always was pretty charming.”

Shevy giggled. Mel and I both groaned.

“I’m the dad. Don’t step on my turf.”

“But your’e not funny.”

“I’m very funny. Ask anyone.”

“Sure, sure. When’s my sister coming home?”

“Friday. She confirmed it this morning.”

Mom and Liam were in South America with the DoD by request of the Brazilian government. They had been having trouble with terrorists and had captured some people they suspected of being involved in rash of bombings. In the spirit of cooperation, they had requested they bring one of their most trusted truth seekers to oversee the interrogation. She’d taken Liam for the practical experience and political clout. Our brother was considering taking a six year hitch in the military, and the military was salivating over getting him. He wouldn’t go until Sean was done with his own run, which was another ten months, because you didn’t risk more than one prime at a time. Liam’s run wouldn’t be anything like Sean’s of course. Sean was a combat prime, attached to a unit that was deployed in hostile zones. Liam would be with Intelligence and guarded more fiercely than the Hope diamond. Truth Seekers were too rare to risk in a combat zone. 

I’d been considering that myself. But I would have to be guaranteed to be put in a position for a theriomancer. I would not go without my animals, it wasn’t fair to them and would be too hard on me mentally and emotionally. I would not be taking a commission for a pyromancer. 

“So, Jae,” Aunt Bella’s grin looked too evil for my taste, “are you going to explain everything to Dallas?”

I didn’t cough because of the question. A shrimp went down the wrong way. You’ll have to trust me on this.

Dad said nothing, but I’m pretty sure he was smirking.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, you don’t, huh?”

“She came over with her uncle last Saturday. They spent a lot of time together in the movie room.”

Sisters are a curse.

“What did they do?”

“I don’t know. Dad kept sending me on errands.”

Mrs. Pierce seemed to ponder it. “It would be a good match. You’re, what, less than two years apart? By the time both of you finish your education you’ll be the perfect age. House Harrison would definitely benefit from such a union. The main problem the houses have, especially the rarer talents, is genetic diversity. You’re completely new DNA. Fresh blood. Any animal or pryo house would kill to have you.”

“No shit. I’ve been flooded with requests and offers since he registered with the Keeper of Records. Everyone wants access to his profile to make sure that he’s wasn’t an orphan because he’s some secret love child from their own family.”

“House Harrison included?”

“Not them. I don’t think Diana feels it’s necessary. She knows more about Jae than anyone else outside of the family and she’s known him all his life. She can tell he and Dallas get along just fine without any interference or pushing.”

Sometimes being a prime sucked. Herald, the social media platform dedicated to primes, had entire threads dedicated to me and Dallas since we showed up together in pictures from a gallery opening two years ago. You’d think people would realize how creepy it was to ‘ship’ a fifteen and seventeen year old together, but it didn’t stop them. There was even fan fiction written about us. I only knew this because Siobhan and Liam had actually read some and poked fun at how graphic it could be.

“Speaking of potential matches, I had an interesting phone call yesterday from House Kamealoha.” Dad floated another slice of pizza to his plate as though he’d said nothing out of the ordinary. My pest of a sister, however, had frozen ramrod straight in her chair.

Arabella smelled blood in the water. “Did you now? And what did they want?”

“Their nephew is going to be traveling to the Houston area and they hoped that House Rogan might be so inclined to host him while he was here.”

“That’s an excellent idea! It’s not like he gets a lot of exposure with other Truth Seekers after all.”

Shevy’s complexion went bone white. A remarkable feat considering she had a near perpetual golden hue to her thanks to the odd combination of genetics from Mom’s side of the family. 

“That’s what they said.”

Everyone in prime society knew about Kealoha Kamealoha. His given name meant ‘the loved one’. I knew this because he had a following online of thousands of giggly girls and had done since I was old enough to notice the female gender and that following included Siobhan. Printouts of his instagram pics plastered the insides of lockers in high school, ready to stare you in the face when those locker doors were open to remind us boring American teenage boys just how inadequate we were. Bronzed skin. Blue black curls that fell to his shoulders. A body that was honed by a lifetime of surfing the Hawaiian waters, traditional dance and no doubt hand-to-hand combat training. 

At one time the United States thought to take over the Hawaiian Islands as a strategic naval location. They made their move and ran head first into Hawaii’s collection of a aquakenetics, theriomancers with a close bond to the area’s ocean wildlife and their own peculiar brand of mages that seemed to be a combination of geo and pryokenetics now called Vulcanomancers. That last one wasn’t something you wanted to tangle with on a chain of volcanic islands. Long story short, Hawaii kept its independence and they were still ruled by their own kings and queens. It wasn’t the same setup as European style nobility and there were a lot of people between Kealoha and the throne, but he was still a treasured member of the royal line. 

Sometime in the past, the royal family had welcomed a truth seeker into their fold, but the talent hadn’t bred true. It was believed to be lost, until Kealoha had come into the world. The past few years he was traveling around the world under the guise of diplomatic and business interests, though it didn’t take long for the fact that he spent a lot of his time with Truth Seeker houses to be noticed. What was going on was clear. They were hoping to find him a truth seeker bride to give a better chance of the power staying around this time. I couldn’t blame them. I’d want a truth seeker in my corner if I were in politics. 

Now he was coming to the states. House Schaefer had no unmarried daughters. House Lin up in New York had Charlotte, who was about a year older than he. And we had Siobhan, who was twenty years old and not promised to anyone.

Bella looked over to Bethany. “How old is he exactly?”

“Twenty five. Not a bad age difference.”

Payback was so sweet. “Should I tell him how you used to have a picture of him in a frame on your night stand?”

She shot me a death glare that Dad noticed. “If you can’t take it, you shouldn’t be dishing it out.” Ha! “He’ll be here next month.”

Her head whipped around. “You said ‘yes’?!” The squeak in her voice disturbed the baby who wriggled fitfully then smacked her face with one little hand before settling back down. 

“They were very polite in the request. And they often have security jobs that I’d like the chance to bid on. No one is saying you have to marry him, but I’d hope your mother and I raised you well enough to be polite. If you can’t stand him once you meet him, we’ll find plenty of excuses to keep you busy and out of sight.”

Bethany peered at him curiously. “I would have thought you’d be far more cautious. You have a reputation of being a bit paranoid.”

Aunt Bella gave a snort of laughter. “He is. The moment it was obvious the man was shopping for a bride, he asked Bern to help Bug run a background check on him. He was bound to show up here eventually. There aren’t a whole lot of truth seekers out there that are in the right age range. He came through with flying colors. No illicit deals. No questionable activities. No string of girls used and tossed away. There was one girl who looked pretty serious, but she turned out to be a total gold digger. Actually tried to juggle him and two other men on different islands, thinking none of them would find out. He dropped her in a hot minute about a month before he started his international tour.”

Melody cocked her head to one side. “You ran a background check on him?”

“I have checks run on anyone who shows interest in my family and may be worthy of consideration. That’s why I agreed to extend an invitation Kealoha and turned House Crawford down flat.”

Siobhan made a face the same time I bit back a growl. “I’d rather gargle broken glass than talk to Patrick Crawford.”

“It wouldn’t get that far. I’d feed him to Tyrus and the twins.” The twins were the jaguars that House Harrison had given me for my high school graduation. Diana Harrison liked cats, though even she admitted that canines were better for security. A canine will put themselves in danger and even die for you. Cats had to be convinced it was their problem to begin with. 

And the threat was real. Patrick Crawford was scum. The very worst example of a prime. Sixth generation and convinced of his own superiority.

Bethany scrunched up her nose. “I met the Crawfords at the gala the Opera Society held last month. Peter says the Crawfords made the same mistakes with Patrick that his mother did with Adam, and we all know how _he_ turned out. Thankfully Patrick isn’t a pyrokenetic. Hopefully he’s not as strong as you.”

“He isn’t. He’s not as strong as Siobhan, either.”

“Adam is the main reason Peter is so careful with our kids. And just so you know, he runs background checks on anyone showing interest in you, too, young lady.”

Mel blinked. “I’m almost twenty-one!”

“And you’re our only daughter. We’ll always look out for you. We look out for the boys, too, but you’re the one we’re probably going to have to let leave to join another house when you marry. It’s only natural for us to want to be sure you go to someone who will treat you well and can take care of you. I’m sure Rogan feels the same way about Siobhan and Jae. Not everyone can be as lucky to grow up with someone practically perfect for them.”

I felt the back of my neck heat up again and Arabella sniggered. “I need to make sure everyone’s settled in. If I may be excused?”

Dad nodded and I put my plate in the wash before heading to my side of the house.

That wasn’t as grand as it sounded. Animal mages tend to gather quite a few friends. After they brought me home when I was just a small, wrinkled little thing, Cornelius, a significant of House Harrison and an employee of Baylor Investigations, brought a Doberman puppy just big enough to leave his mother to the house and put him in the crib with me. His name was Puppers, and he was my constant companion and guard for years until time and age eventually took him from me. But he wasn’t my only friend. I bonded with cats, birds, lizards and practically anything I could meet. Once I was old enough to get get in and out of bed by myself and clean my own room it was decided that it’d be easier for me and my growing menagerie if I had my own wing of the house where we could all be together. Once I was big enough to clean up after all of them, it was my responsibility to keep it neat and tidy.

No small feat, given how many friends I had gathered.

The jaguars were the most exotic, unless you thought a timber wolf was exotic. Though there was also the snowy owl who got on well with the barn owl, the red tailed hawk and the golden eagle. Then the raccoons, the ferrets, the badger, both African and European hedgehogs, two mongoose, several rabbits, three different dogs (German Shepard, a standard poodle and a schnauzer) and four cats (Persian, Bengal and two Maine Coons).

They had the run of the house, but most didn’t bother. The cats would often sleep in Siobhan’s room and Spaz, the schnauzer, thought Dad was the best person ever next to me. The jaguars spent most of their days lounging anywhere high up they could find and the birds of prey entertained themselves with hunting things that weren’t part of the family. The little animals just did whatever they desired and I spent time with every animal and practiced my magic faithfully. 

You don’t want to know what I could get the ferrets to do.

I made sure everyone got attention and their food. The dogs and I ran through drilled where I trained them to skirt soundlessly along the base of the house and through the foliage to attempt to steal the radios off of Dad’s security staff. His guys were good, so they usually caught them, but Rusty, my red coated poodle, did mange to grab one and get back to the house before the poor guy figured out it was missing. 

Once those drills were done, I still had my other nightly ritual. One of the rooms was a spell room, the floor and walls done in black chalkboard paint with muted lighting. When you had magic, you started practicing your circle work as soon as you could hold a stick of chalk in your hands. In a house with five primes, six when Sean was home on leave, we went through a lot of chalk. For this drill, however, I needed candles as well as chalk. First came drawing the complex combination of glyphs, sigils and runes, then the pillar candles set around me, each with four inches between them. Finally, I sat down in the middle of the circle and cleared my mind.

The exercise started by using my pyrokenesis to light the candle directly in front of me. Then, the candle flame splits. The wick is extinguished and the two flames float to the candles on either side to light them instead. From there, I moved the flames from each wick to the next until they met behind me to combine into one candle flame. From there it goes faster, moving to each wick in succession so that the fire moved around me in a circle a few times before the wicks are all blank. Then every other one is lit at the same time, extinguished, then the others are lit the same. 

From there I made the fire dance and flicker, like an old world interpretation of patterned holiday LED strings before I send streams of flames arching up and over as though the fire is jumping from one candle to another across the circle, much like those clever fountains at theme parks. The sequence is a practice in control and fine manipulation, which is a good deal more difficult and draining than melting a cubic foot of stainless steel in under a minute, which was what I had to do at my registration testing (which was also why I had ‘stainless steel classification). Tatiana Pierce, Bethany’s sister-in-law and they pyro prime who was my tutor in all things fire related, said that even an average pyrokenetic could turn himself into a flame thrower, but it took someone with skill to manage fine work like this. Dad said it was the same with his own magic; cutting a building in half was impressive, but when he and Mom first met and he was feeling snarky, he demonstrated his own control by slicing off layers from a chopstick he’d suspended in the air and used the slices to make a floral pattern on the table they were seated at while he unfolded his napkin and placed it in his lap.

Mom said it terrified most of the rest of the people in the restaurant and got him one girl’s phone number.

I was doing my fire cage trick when I heard the soft purr of a motor come into the room behind me. I recognized that hum. “Did everyone think I was going to be a basket case after today?”

“Not a basket case, but we did think that it would take a toll on you.”

“Enough so that you came over at this time of night.” I dismissed the flames and turned around. My legs had gone to sleep from sitting in a cross position for so long and my shirt was damp from sweat after doing so much practice with both kinds of magic. I checked the clock on the wall. “It’s after nine.”

“Connor has the guest room ready for me. Now come give your grandmother a hug.”

“I’m all sweaty.” Still I went over and bent down to hug Nanna Rosa.

Amorosa Rogan was an elegant woman with a noble profile and a kind smile. She didn’t let the fact that she was confined to a wheel chair get to her. She’d been injured during an assassination attempt against her husband and lost the use of her legs because of it. Lost the ability to have children as well. A lot of primes would have divorced her because they only had the one child and most families usually tried to have at least two, but Will Rogan loved his wife and refused to give in to pressure from his family to find another.

I think I would have liked Grandpa Rogan. 

“A little sweat never hurt anyone.” She smoothed my hair and looked into my eyes. “How are you doing, sweetheart.”

“I’m fine.” I turned and sat down on the floor next to her chair so she didn’t have to strain to look up at me, resting against her legs. “I think I may have hurt Mom and Dad’s feelings asking about it, though.”

“They’re not hurt. They’re just worried for you. It’s natural for an adopted child to be curious about their birth parents. I suppose most wonder why they ended up that way. Were they an orphan. Were their parents unfit in some way?”

“Was I thrown away?”

“You’ve always known that wasn’t the case. Connor and Nevada have always told you that your parents had died.”

“I know. Just pointing out that some might feel that way.” I took in a breath and took in the scent of burnt wick and hot wax mixed with chalk dust. “She was so scared. Lyanna, I mean. I imagine they all were. Dad said their world is like feudal era Europe. This world must have been terrifying to them. And to be used as test subjects... How can there be people who think that’s perfectly all right? That you should be able to just take people away from their homes and pump them full of drugs to see what will happen?”

“You give them too much credit. They aren’t under any delusion that it’s all right. They just don’t give a damn. They are more monstrous than any of the people magic warped from their experiments. Catalina fell into her job by accident, but she stayed with it because it needs doing. Your aunt doesn’t like being the Warden, but I doubt there are many who would be more trustworthy in the position. “

“I wish they could have gotten her back home. I know that would have sent me there as well, but I wouldn’t have known any differently if that was how I grew up.”

“That would have been a nightmare for her world.”

I tilted my head back to look up at her. “How so?”

“Did Lina tell you about the dragons and how your father’s family used them to conquer their world? Well, you and your mother would have had great magic. Sending you both back there would have been like unleashing new born baby gods onto that place. Especially after your fire magic came in. Whatever supporters your father had would likely have rallied around you both. They conquered and held power because of a power imbalance caused by them having dragons and no one else doing so. That power imbalance would have started again, and your magic would have been passed on to your descendants, starting the cycle all over again. It’s not good for one family to hold all the power. It gives rise to tyrannies.”

She was right. I still felt sad for my mother. For that young girl who had lost everything only to be trapped by people who only saw her the way they would see a lab rat. 

“Now, why don’t you get cleaned up and get some rest. I’ll take over the kitchen in the morning and make stuffed waffles.”

“Deal.” Scrambling up, I walked her to the hall that defined my area of the house from the rest, bidding her good night.

~***~

_Three weeks later_

“Professor Hanson has a grudge against mages. I’m sure of it!”

“Or you could just be bad at math.”

“I am excellent at math, thank you very much.”

Well, actually that was true. Shevy was good at math, but very few people really liked Statistics. Uncle Bern did, but he was a pattern mage with a knack for numbers. The dictionary definition of Uber nerd. Some of the brightest students we knew struggled with Statistics.

There had been a two week difference between the start of regular school and the start of classes at university. Siobhan and I had both decided to stay local at Houston instead of going to Yale or Harvard. It was just easier than dealing with taking an entire security team away from their homes and families while we were at school. That’s what happened with Sean and Liam, and though none of Dad’s people complained, we’d decided to cut them some slack. Shevy had taken the popular ‘gap year’ after graduation to wait until I finished my senior year so we would start together, even though we had different majors. She was studying poli sci and foreign trade where I was going into veterinary medicine. 

“Just ask Bern to help you. I bet he could break it down to something that makes sense.”

“Help with what?” Mom came into the room to set a vase with a combination of carnations and baby’s breath on the sofa table. “Shevy, is that what you’re wearing?”

An uncertain expression flickered across her face briefly before she folded her arms over her chest in her faded jeans and a Houston Texans t-shirt. “Yes. He might as meet see the real me.”

“Yeah, Mom. Or should she drug him, chain him in the basement and interrogate him?” That’s what Dad did when they first met. Mom had the most forgiving nature of anyone in the world if she got past that introduction to eventually marry him.

“Not everyone can pull off your father’s charm.” She didn’t say anything else about the way Siobhan was dressed, though. I wasn’t much better in my own jeans and tee. 

Arabella let herself in, a baby who was bright and alert in her arms this time. “Hey, Sis.” She walked over to Mom and handed the baby to her without warning. “Lie to my kid.”

“And hello to you, too. What’s this about?”

“He doesn’t take after me, but I’ve noticed that if anyone near him starts spouting bull shit his face scrunches up.”

“Really?” Mom grinned at the baby who was looking at her with bright eyes and his own smile. “Hi there, pumpkin. Your mommy’s a purple elephant.” Little Derek’s face scrunched up as though he’d bitten into something sour and he shook his head like trying to shake something off. “Yep. He pinged me.” ‘Pinging’ was something that a truth seeker felt when another truth seeker truth checked what the said. Mom said it was like a flick of finger nails against your psyche. 

“I thought so!” Bella leaned in and rubbed noses with her son. “There goes Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.”

“He’ll be fine without them. I was.” Mom kiss attacked his cheek, filling the room with giggles.

“For some definitions of ‘fine’.”

Aunt Arabella was a metamorphage. Metamorphs transformed into monsters and in those forms they were pretty tough to take down. Her form was a sixty foot tall beast with curving rams horns and dark shaggy fur. We had already guessed that Derek probably wasn’t like her, because he most likely would have transformed at birth. Prime births could be tricky. Mom said that Bella had almost killed Grandma Pen when she was born, because she wedged herself in the birth canal and refused to come out, then she’d tried to strangle the doctor. 

That Derek was a truth seeker was a bit of a blessing. 

She saw Shevy. “Is that what you’re wearing?”

My sister gave her a flat look. 

Bella looked back to Mom. “This whole thing reminds me of Catalina and Alessandro. Remember when he was asked to be her control for her registration and he followed her instagram account? She woke up with over a thousand new followers, freaked out and deleted her entire account.”

Mom bounced Derek gently in her arms. “Or how after the test he showed up at the warehouse wanting to take her on a drive and she called the cops on him because she was afraid she’d fried him with her magic.”

“And look at them now! Happily married. Three kids. Hunting down and punishing evil doers in style. We could be witnessing it all over today!”

Siobhan was not amused. “I hate this family.”

Mom and Bella smiled identical smiles. “We hate you, too!” Their voices were a cheery sing-song.

The door opened from the front of the house again and Mom frowned. “They can’t be here, yet.”

Something brushed against my mind and I smiled. “It’s Dallas and Samson.” A moment later a tall, lean girl with auburn hair and bright green eyes came into the room with a beautiful specimen of the Great Dane breed at her side. She’d already worked the knot of her school tie loose and had ditched her blazer. 

“Hello Mrs. Rogan. Hello Prime Baylor.”

Mom handed Derek back to his mother. “Hi, Dallas. Will you be staying for dinner.”

“Yes, thank you. Mother has a meeting tonight and I didn’t want to eat left overs.”

“We’ve always got room for you.”

Dallas looked at my sister and tilted her head curiously. “Speculation at school is that Kealoha Kamealoha is arriving today to visit House Rogan. Are they wrong?”

“Does _everyone_ know he’s coming to town?”

“Yes. It’s all over Herald. I saw some rather impressive photo manipulations putting the two of you together.” I turned away before Shevy saw me smiling. Her fists hurt when she punched you. “There was a beautiful one of you in a wedding dress.”

Siobhan groaned and left the room. We all watched her go, Dallas looking somewhat confused. 

“She isn’t happy about it? He’d be a good match. It would increase the likelihood of her children being prime truth seekers.”

Arabella grinned. “She’s probably just worried that they won’t be as good of a match as you and Jae.”

“Jaehaerys and I are a very good match. Our children most likely will be primes. And very attractive.”

I choked on air. Remember how I said that animal mages had to be properly socialized? If they aren’t, they don’t quite mesh with the rest of society. Even when we are, we can come off as a bit strange. I was raised by a combination of talents and not by another animal mage, so if it weren’t for the massive timber wolf at my side of the large birds often hanging about, I was seen as ‘normal’. Dallas, though not without empathy or on the far end of extreme where she never learned to talk, could still be.... direct. Disturbingly so for a high school senior.

And aunt Bella needed a new target now that Shevy had fled the room. “They would! So is it official yet?”

“Arabella....” Mom’s voice held only a bit of chiding.

“Not yet, though it is something that should be considered. I can ask my mother to contact you and Prime Rogan, Mrs. Rogan. There are some matters that should be discussed. I am my mother’s heir and will be Head of House when she steps down, so it would be better if Jae married into House Harrison rather than me marry into House Rogan.”

Bella’s smile was positively evil. Mom looked quite professional, so I knew she was screwing with me. “That is true. And it’s not anything that hasn’t been done before. Alessandro married into House Baylor, for example. I hope you don’t mean right away, though.”

“No, I still need to finish high school and then I will be going to college. I would prefer to complete my education before having children, though I do think I would like to marry during college so that we could have a few years to ourselves.”

“Very sensible. Don’t you think so, Jae?”

Well, no time like the present. “I do.” Mom’s jaw dropped open, but she recovered quickly. Hands in my pockets, I gave a shrug. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it. And we aren’t saying go ahead and plan the ceremony. We mean in a few years.”

“Well, way to take away all my fun.” Bella stuck her tongue out at me. “Guess I’ll just have to torment Shevy.”

“Do you want us to talk with Diana?”

“I think Mother would appreciate it. She gets contacted by other houses about me, and I know you and Prime Rogan get the same about Jae. If there was an official announcement most of that would stop. Most houses will not want to be seen as infringing on House Rogan.”

“Okay then. I’ll talk with Connor, but we will probably not do anything as long as we have our house guest.”

“So he is coming to stay with you?”

“He is. Connor and a security team went to the air port to greet him.”

Dallas frowned. “Siobhan didn’t want to go with them?”

“They just got back from campus a bit before you arrived. You must have come over directly from school as well. Jae, why don’t you two go raid the kitchen. Nothing too heavy. Your grandmothers are making dinner.”

We made our escape, Tyrus and Samson padding beside us. True enough, both Grandma Pen and Nana Rosa were in the kitchen. “We have been sent in search of sustenance. And canine friendly treats.” Both women looked up. Apparently we were pulling the entire family in for this first dinner. “Are we trying to see if the man can withstand the entire combined clan right out of the gate? Will Bern, Leon and Sean be here, too?”

Grandma Pen put down the chef knife in her hand and wiped them dry with a towel. “Bern and Runa will be here within the hour, Leon and Toni are in Austin on a job and Sean is wherever the Army sent him. Come here.” 

She folded me into a hug, then treated Dallas to one while I moved on to hug and greet Nana Rosa. “It smells amazing.”

Amarosa hugged me back. “It should. We’re both doing some of our specialties, which leaves dinner being a mix of Spanish and Tex Mex fare, but overall I think everyone will be pleased. Hello, Dallas. It’s good to see you. Will you be staying?”

“I will.” She looked down at herself. “Though I don’t think I am properly dressed. I have a change of clothes in my car. I will go get them and change.” 

“Wait until you eat something. That way you don’t risk dropping anything on yourself.”

Even as she spoke, things floated around the kitchen. Grandma Pen just took it all in stride and resumed slicing up the peppers and onions. We visited over how senior year was going and how my start of the second year in college was doing. Tyrus and Samson got offerings of sliced meat as Dallas and I were given some of the seven layer dip Siobhan had put together last night for casual snacking to take the edge off our hunger until dinner. Once there was no longer a danger of wearing salsa and beans, we settled the boys in and Dallas went to get a garment bag from her car. You never knew when your family would call you in on a meeting at the last minute, especially when you were an heir prime, so she always kept a nice dress and shoes in her car just for last minute engagements. Not wanting to be upstaged by my unofficial fiancé I spruced up into newer jeans and a nice button down with the obligatory Western boots. It was Texas after all.

Vanity finally won out over my sister, too. When she re-emerged from her room she was wearing a simple sheath dress and had her hair in a classy braid. Mom didn’t say anything, but it was clear she was pleased. She wasn’t going to badger Shevy into doing anything she didn’t want to, believing to let us make our own mistakes.

As predicted, Bern and Runa showed up sans kids. They’d left them at home with her sister. Liam arrived from the office and gratefully shed his suit coat. Dallas, Shevy and I set the table like obedient children while Bella lay Derek down to sleep in one of guest rooms that Mom had set back up as a guest nursery when she’d been expecting. 

Mom’s cell beeped with an alert that they were coming in. Siobhan blanched and looked like a doe caught in headlights. Reaching out, I put a hand on her back. “He’s just a guy. You’ve got this.” I knew why she was freaking out. Shevy was usually so focused on being the perfect scion of House Rogan while still being as down to earth as a Baylor that she didn’t allow herself the time to bother with seemingly inconsequential things like dating and relationships. The guys at school had called her an ice queen and joked that she was really a cycrokinetic rather than a telekinetic. Kealoha had gotten through that seemingly impenetrable wall by the power of his smile on his Instagram posts alone. Now she was faced with the ‘what if’ scenario. What if he wasn’t as handsome in real life? What if he had the personality of a troll? What if he somehow found her lacking?

That last was just stupid. My sister was awesome.

Dad had taken five SUVs. He and Kealoha would be in the center vehicle while the others followed before and after. Once they got onto some of Houston’s lovely six lane abreast traffic, two would move to be on either side. Overkill? For regular people, maybe, but not for heads of state, foreign diplomats or treasured members of royal families who were going to be your guest for close to a month.

“Do we bow?” Aunt Bella leaned up against the wall, watching the flurry of activity in the house. “I mean, he’s kinda sorta nobility.”

“I’m pretty sure we can just be polite, Bella. Try not to terrorize the poor boy on the first night.”

“He’s twenty-five, Neva. And a prime. He’s seen much worse than me, I’m sure.”

“There’s nothing worse than you.”

“Damn right!”

Next to me Siobhan gave a whimper. “She’s going to embarrass him.”

I rubbed her back. “No she isn’t. You should really be worried about me and Liam.”

That got her. “Why? What are you planning. Jae, don’t you dare do anything!”

That made me pause. “Whoa.... what’s gotten into you? I’ve never seen you this worked up.”

Shevy worried her bottom lip a bit. “What if he doesn’t like me? What if he thinks I’m silly or something?”

Dallas cocked her head to the side. So did Samson. “Do you think he’s defective?”

“What?”

“You are attractive. Physically you are well proportioned and good nutrition and physical activity mean you are in peak physical condition. You are intelligent, you placed high in your class in high school and are performing well amongst your peers at college. Magically you are a dual prime, a rarity. If he cannot see that you are an excellent prospect for marriage, then the fault lies with him and you should look for someone smarter.”

That. That right there was why I didn’t give a damn if others thought Dal was off putting. She saw things in black and white, and I wasn’t sure she even registered shades of grey. When you grew up in a house riddled with truth seekers, you learned to appreciate honesty. Let others think she was strange and uncomfortable. I thought she was amazing.

Shevy hugged Dallas in gratitude before smoothing her dress over her front. 

The door opened and Dad came in with our house guest.

Okay.. you know that movie Moana? Think Maui, only in real life and I couldn’t tell about any tattoos because he was dressed in a suit that covered his arms. Dad and Sean were both big men. A bit over six feet tall and built like they could level buildings with their bare hands rather than use their magic. Liam was about a tall and all wiry muscle. I was stuck in between. A little broader than Liam but not anything along the lines of Dad. Kealoha had about three inches on Dad and I wasn’t entirely sure how he fit through the door. He wasn’t fat. Not even hard fat. I could tell that with his clothes on. The man was about six feet five inches of solid muscle.

What did he use when he surfed? A garage door?

The Instagram shots had clearly been softened so as not to send regular guys like me into depression over our own wimpiness.

“Kealoha, this is my wife, Nevada.”

The giant smiled and took Mom’s hand in his own, bowing over it slightly. “Thank you for inviting me into your home, Prime Rogan-Baylor.”

“Nevada, please. And we’re happy to have you.”

Some of Dad’s men carried his things in with the efficient movements of soldiers, taking them to his rooms while Papa Hart, also known as Sergeant Hart, moved to stand next to Grandma Pen. 

“This is my cousin, Bern and his wife Runa. This is my mother Penelope and I believe you’ve already met her husband. My other mother, Amorosa,” that’s what she called Nana Rosa instead of mother-in-law, “This lovely young lady is Dallas Harrison of House Harrison. This is my our son Liam and our son Jaehaerys.” The man’s hand was like shaking a damn mountain it was so huge. “And this is our daughter, Siobhan.”

My sister offered her most charming smile, which to be fair was pretty nice. She was a bit over average for a US female at five foot eight, but next to Kealoha she looked like a child.”

“I am glad to finally meet you, Prime Rogan.”

“Siobhan, please. Or Shevy. Either will do. I hope you flight in wasn’t too taxing. Our grandmothers conspired to make dinner tonight and they are both amazing cooks.”

Kealoha gave an answering smile that seemed surprised. “I had heard of the hospitality of the American South. I look forward to experiencing it. And it’s nice to be back in a climate that is a decent temperature. I found Sweden... a bit cool.”

I bet he did. And I hadn’t heard very favorable things about the daughters of Houe Nilsson. Rumor was that they were as cold as their native waters.

Dallas was looking between Shevy and Kealoha with a slight frown on her face. Aunt Bella noticed it, and she definitely knew better than to ask about it. But did that stop her?

“What’s wrong, Dal?”

“I know we’re supposed to stretch somewhat... but I don’t see how he’d fit.”

I love my girlfriend.


	2. Chapter 2

“Did you steal my coffee?”

Shevy took a pull from the triple mocha with cayenne, then another, before setting it back down. “Just a little.” The taste finally kicked in. “Damn! Where’d you get that?!”

“In the union.”

“They have pepper now?”

“No. I carry it in my back pack. Add it myself.”

“I’ll remember that.” She started packing up her books, glancing at her cell phone more than once.

“You waiting for a call?”

“A text.” She was trying to be cool.

“From whom?”

She wasn’t going to tell me, but then gave in. “From Kealoha. He asked if I’d like to get out of the house and go to dinner tonight. Just us. Asked me to pick the place.”

“Nice.” Do not smile. Do not smile. 

Last night came back to me.

_”Jae, do you have a minute?”_

_I turned to see Kealoha standing a bit away from me, watching as Shredder flew overhead. I was watching the feed from the small camera on his harness on the tablet in my hands as we practiced surveillance. “Sure. What can I help you with?”_

_”I was hoping to get some advice.” He scratched idly at his neck. He’d ditched the suits for more comfortable clothing such as shorts and a tank while not doing anything ‘official’. The change in wardrobe didn’t do much to make him look less imposing._

_”I’ll do my best. What’s on your mind?”_

_”I appreciate all your family has done to make me feel comfortable, but I was hoping to ask Siobhan if she’d like to go out to dinner. Just the two of us.”_

_I grinned. “Away from the madness that is House Rogan? I can see that. We can be a bit much.”_

_”Not much worse than being at the compound back home. To be truthful, you’re all a refreshing change from some of the other families I’ve visited. For one, you’re not throwing her at me every chance you get or making me sit through demonstrations of her singing skills like we’re back in Edwardian England.”_

_”If we’re being honest, you’re a nice change form some of the stuck up idiots that have tried to get their foot in the door. You haven’t run off screaming after a whole week. You didn’t even get chased off that first night.”_

_A broad smile broke across his face. “My family works with two animal mage houses. I know how they can be at times. I actually like them. You really can’t turn off the passive effect so when there are a lot of politicians around it’s a near constant irritation. Everyone lies, but some people lie more. The brutal honesty of most animal mages is a welcome respite.”_

_Huh. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever discussed that with Mom. Or my siblings. We just learned not to bother trying. Though I will admit my Aunt Catalina did teach me how to lie to a truth seeker.”_

_”You have to tell the truth to lie to someone like us.” He grinned. “My family hasn’t had enough practice yet, so they can’t quite manage it.”_

_”Lina learned practicing on Victoria Tremaine.” I saw him wince. “Can I ask you something?”_

_”Sure.”_

_”Why did you wait so long to come to Houston? I know we’re all registered and Herald is loaded with gossip about all the places you’ve been so far. Some of them there was nearly a ten year age difference between you and the girl, in their favor.”_

_He grimaced. “It wasn’t my idea. When this started she was seventeen. Still a kid, but it’s not unheard of for houses to set contracts when the child isn’t even walking well on their own. I pointed out that she shouldn’t even be possible. Your parents shouldn’t have been able to produce two truth seekers, not with their mix. That alone indicates that the truth seeking genetics are strong. They want me to ensure that the truth seeking stays. Siobhan is an excellent choice for that.”_

_”So what was the problem?” I had a feeling I knew already, but I wanted to be sure._

_”Victoria Tremaine and your Aunt Arabella.” Yep, that’s what I thought. “Everyone has heard of Tremaine. Of the primes going missing only to turn up with no memory of where they’d been but describing mental rape, if they had any mind left at all.”_

_I sighed. “Yeah, she was an evil bitch. The timing around that...they think she was looking for her son. Mom says that when she was forced to sit down and talk to her grandmother for the first time, she admitted she was proud her non-magical son had been able to evade her so thoroughly.”_

_”No easy feat. Her reputation was known even in Hawaii. Then Arabella...”_

_It was clear he was trying to find a way to say it without being insulting. “I get it. It’s screwed her over, too. She’s awesome. Pretty. Smart. Funny. But no matter how amazing she is, she never found a guy with enough balls to look past the whole metamorph thing. They all feared having children that would one day lose their shit and go on a rampage. She eventually said ‘screw it’ and went with a donor.”_

_He frowned. “How’d she find a higher tier mage to donate? They usually refuse.”_

_”She didn’t. She just went with a regular guy who donated to a cryobank. Narrowed the choices down by height, hair and eye color, then pulled their files to compare familial health and longevity. Then took her short list and had comparisons done to make sure they weren’t both carrying anything that could combine to something lethal. She did about three years of research before finally deciding on the right one to get Derek. We didn’t care if he had magic or not.”_

_”And he came out a truth seeker as well. Another confirmation of the blood line. As nervous as it made my family, Siobhan has always been the smarter choice. I argued that we shouldn’t hold Tremaine against her when House Baylor was formed in defiance of her. And look at your parents. Your mother went up against prime pyrokenetic determined to burn down Houston and helped to stop him, then there was the Sturm-Charles Conspiracy she and your father uncovered and thwarted. It’s obvious that neither House Rogan nor House Baylor hold fast to their ties with Tremaine. And since both your mother and Shevy are truth seekers rather than metamorphs, that is unlikely as well.”_

_I didn’t point out that he himself was a throwback to something his house thought failed to take._

_”Look, I’m not going to claim I’m in love with Shevy. We just met. But do I think it could happen? Yes, I do. My own parents were an arranged marriage and they are one of the most dedicated couples I know. Believe me, if they were unfaithful, my magic would have twigged to it ages ago. Something would have given them away. When one tells the other they love them, they’re telling the truth. I think that could happen to me and Siobhan if we were given the chance.”_

_He felt genuine. Sure, he might have come out here to talk to me because I wasn’t a truth seeker, but he couldn’t lie to Shevy. “Okay, you want my advice? Let her pick the place. She’s going to go with one of her favorites. If she goes with TexMex, watch out for the salsa. She likes things hot enough to strip the top layer off of your tongue. If she goes with bar-b-que, expect the messiest food you’ve ever encountered.”_

_”I come from a culture that eats poi, a dish we purposely make to be eaten with our hands. I think I can manage messy.”_

“So where’s dinner going to be?”

“Dudders.” BBQ. Thought so. “And you’re not invited. He wants it to be just the two of us.”

“You really think you’re going to be allowed out by yourself?”

“Dad’s guys know how not to be seen. You, on the other hand, would go out of your way to bug us.”

“Like you don’t bug me and Dallas?”

“It’s sisterly concern!”

“And maybe I want to be brotherly!”

The phone buzzed and she snatched it up, looking at the text. “No, you want to be pestery.” She smiled.

“So the date’s on?”

She shoved her phone into her pack. “It is. And you’re still not invited.” She stole another pull from my coffee. “Damn, that’s good. I have to get to stats. I’ll see you later.” She shouldered her bag and took off across the lawn. With my coffee.

“Hey!”

“You can get another one!”

Seriously, the abuse I took sometimes.

I grabbed another mocha from the union and mixed in some pepper, before heading to my own class. In the spirit of modern collegiate education, it was a class that had nothing to do with my major so I could be ‘well rounded’. I’d settled on English Lit when, wanting to get such credits out of the way. And it was something of a rest after organic chemistry. Why I took that class at seven thirty I still didn’t know, but on the plus side it wasn’t over crowded. And I enjoyed reading so the book list for the lit class was a nice change from the science based texts. 

We were starting the year with sixteenth century poets. The professor was going over the basic structure of a stanza when the building shook.

What the fuck? 

The hairs on my neck and arms stood up in response to magic in the air. By my seat Tyrus tensed, lips pulled back in a growl.

“Mr. Rogan, please calm your animal or you will have to put him outside.” Everyone was jittery. We weren’t on a fault line. Earthquakes were few and far between unless they had help. “Settle down, class. We will know if there’s any reason to be concerned.”

If I mentioned that magic was involved, it might cause a panic, so I kept it to myself. Still, I didn’t like it.

It wasn’t ten minutes before my phone buzzed. I looked down at it and saw the emergency code in the text that meant ‘respond and confirm location’. I thumbed it to unlock and began to answer.

“Mr. Rogan, no cell phones during lecture.”

“Sorry, Professor. Security check in request. I have to answer or they get agitated.”

There were chuckles, but the professor just gave me a disapproving look. Once I had responded as required I set it back down and summoned what I hoped was a contrite smile.

He was just about to resume the lecture when my phone went off again. I gave him an another apologetic smile and looked at the screen. 

“Another check in request?”

“Uhm... no, sir.” There was a delicate balance when managing information. Mom was an expert at it. Aunt Lina was better. I was still learning. “I’m.... there must be an emergency at home. Someone is being sent to get me. We’ll just step outside so there aren’t any further disruptions.” There. No mention of magic causing tremors and by stepping outside of the class no one gets panicked when a team of Dad’s ex-commandos shows up to take me home.

We got outside and I texted Shevy with _r they pulling u_. 

I got a delivery failed message.

I sent it again.

Same result.

I dialed her number instead, and got an ‘outside of coverage area’ message. 

What the hell?

I dialed the number for Bug, Dad’s communications expert. He answered on the first ring. “Sit tight! Troy and his guys are already on their way.”

“I can’t get Shevy’s phone. Can you ping it?”

He didn’t respond. I thought he was checking, but he was quicker than this. “Bug?”

“It’s not there.”

“What’s not there?”

“The phone. It’s not there. Just... stay where you are.”

Something was definitely wrong. “Bug, where’s Siobhan.” Silence. “Bug?”

“We don’t know.”

“How can you not know? You’re more paranoid than Dad. What you can’t see from street cams you fly drones over. You’ve got every inch of campus covered.”

“Look, she’s not there. I know you’re freaked, but you need to stay put.”

“I’m going to go find her.”

“No! The Major said you were to stay put so they could pull you out.”

“Tyrus can track.”

“No, he can’t! Trust me on this, there’s nothing you can do right now. The main thing is for you to stay where you are and wait for Troy.”

I wasn’t wrong. He did have every inch of the campus under surveillance in some fashion or another. “Send me what you have.”

“I... don’t think I should.”

“Bug, you either send me the footage, or I’m walking out of this building and going to look for my sister.”

“No, don’t.... fine! I’ll send it to your phone, but you keep your ass there and if anyone comes up to you that Tyrus doesn’t like, torch’em. Don’t take any stupid risks.”

He hung up. A couple of minutes later my phone buzzed again and I opened my email. Bug was good at data compression so it didn’t take long to download the clip. Turning the phone lengthwise I watched the video file.

Siobhan was walking across the area behind the union and between the fitness complex and Sorority Row on her way to the math building. Book bag over one shoulder and pausing to chuck the now empty coffee she’d snatched from me into a waste bin. She made it a few more yards before she stopped as though hearing something and a figure moved out from under the awning at the gym. The footage was too far away for me to see the guy’s face, but I could tell from the general build that it was male. Shevy knew him. I saw the change in her body language from relaxed to on guard. Whoever it was, she knew them and she didn’t care for them.

They were talking, but there was no audio. Unfortunately, with her focused on the man standing twenty feet or so in front of her, she missed the guy behind her until it was too late. She jumped, her hand dropping the coffee to slap at her opposite arm to pull at something.

They’d darted her. Shot her with a dart of some kind, most likely a tranquilizer. 

What the fuck!

Her reaction was immediate. A telekinetic like Shevy couldn’t really interact with living things. She could swing a branch from the ground, because it was dead, but she couldn’t rip a living tree form the ground, It takes a levitatior, a very specific and rare subtype of telekinetic, to move a living thing. 

Clothes, however, are fair game. And it was the clothes of the asshole with the dart gun she used to grab hold of him and send him flying into the side of the Delta Kappa Pi house. I could tell from the way the body fell that he wasn’t getting back up. 

Other students realized what was going on and ran. No one wanted to get caught between mages in a fight. They either ran away completely or got to what seemed a safe distance before whipping out their phones to take video. Fucking bystanders! 

She reached for a car on the side of the street and sent it hurtling towards the man who had called for her attention to begin with. 

And he stopped it. Cold. 

No. He couldn’t possibly be this stupid.

The man sent the car up and over, leaving it to crash upside down onto the street. Shevy grabbed another and he picked up one of his own and crashed it aside. She ripped the metal awning free from the building and attempted to wrap it around him, and he flexed it the opposite way. Far too smoothly for someone fighting against her. Whatever had been in the dart was starting to take effect. I could see it in the way she staggered as she began to struggle to stay standing. 

And I saw the swirling vortex starting to form off to the right of them. Dark purple and black, with flashes like lightning. A summoning portal. I’d seen Mel do this when she practiced her magic on days I was at the House Pierce compound for my own lessons. I felt myself tense as I waited for something to leap out and attack my sister. 

She fell down, losing her fight with the drugs. The man moved towards her along with another man who seemed to be checking on the vortex. The summoner? 

The telekinetic picked Shevy up into a bridal carry and walked towards the vortex with the other mage. I stared in disbelief as they walked into it as though it were just another door.

The portal collapsed, leaving charred grass in its wake.

They had taken her. They had taken my sister.

Patrick Crawford had kidnapped Siobhan. And I was very certain that once Bug had the footage enlarged and cleaned up, the other telekinetic would be Patrick Crawford.

So what? Dad tells House Crawford that he is not interested in entertaining a betrothal contract between Shevy and their boy and Patrick throws a fucking temper tantrum? Did he think that his forcefulness would sweep her off her feet and she’s suddenly agree to be his wife?

I would kill him. I’d get to him before Dad and before Mom and before the entire army of ex-soldiers and hard asses Dad hired to work for him and I’d rip the son of a bitch apart! I’d have my birds pluck out his eyes, the dogs could ham string him and I’d like the twins feast on his guts!

No, wait. Didn’t Cornelius kill the woman who murdered his wife by having her eaten alive by a swarm of rats? Oh, that was good. I’d do that!

The fire alarms went off, jerking me out of my anger as the sprinklers let loose. 

I’d set the bulletin boards on fire. All of them. And any other stray piece of paper tacked to the walls along with a few pieces of furniture.

Okay, I might have let my magic get away from me.

The doors opened and students started filing out in that hurried, near panic that they always drilled you not to do but which people naturally did anyway. I blended into the stream of people even while I reached out with my magic and damped the flames to put the fire out. 

Troy found me outside with everyone else, standing a bit apart. I ignored the nervous looks sent my way. It wasn’t like my pryo magic was a secret or anything. Dad’s guys reached me about the same time as campus security.

“We’ll take it from here.”

“We have questions for him regarding what happened.”

Troy produced a card. “You can call House Rogan’s legal counsel. All inquiries should be directed to them.” 

“He set the damn building on fire!”

“I put it out.” My voice sounded tight and angry even to me. Troy looked down at my hand where I was still clutching my phone and took it from me, checking the screen.

“He sent you the video?”

“I told him it was that or I was leaving to look for her.”

The security officer tried to butt in. “Look, we can’t just let this slide! I have a responsibility to the these students!”

Troy glared at him. “Really? Then while you’re asking the lawyers about the fire, be sure to explain where your people were when Siobhan Rogan was being abducted.” The man blanched. “You’ve already lost one of them. My job is to get the other one home before you manage to lose him, too.”

He didn’t wait for a response. Troy motioned for us to get walk with him and the two guys that had come with him from the vehicle over the bricked walkway and finally into the SUV. I settled Tyrus into the back before buckling myself in. I was just sitting back when one of the guys handed me a blue pill of some kind and a water bottle.

“Take this.”

These were Dad’s people, so I took it, chasing it down with the water. After that I watched the scenery pass by as my mind went over the footage. 

“Have they identified the telekinetic, yet?” I knew it was Crawford, but we’d have to be sure before we could move on it. 

“Bug’s working on gathering a better shot now. There are copies probably already being uploaded to social media, so he’ll have multiple angles to work with.”

Smart phones had made secrecy more difficult. Footage caught by regular people on the street was what made it impossible for House Pierce to deny it when Adam Pierce had gone on his rampage, setting fires to buildings and eventually trying to burn down the entire city. The same thing was how Houston and the feds had learned that there was a metamorph who looked exactly like the Beast of Cologne and forced Aunt Bella to hide out at Nana Rosa’s house until she could be officially registered and under house protections. 

The same footage just might be about to blow the lid off House Swift’s secret.

“Have there been any demands?”

Troy offered me another bottle of water. “Not at the time we left. The moment Bug lost the signal from her GPS tracker and got the footage of what happened, we were dispatched to get you.”

We’d be on our own for this. There was a highly publicized kidnapping of a prime once and the FBI came in to help. They’d lost a lot of agents to it. Since then, federal law enforcement did not get involved with House kidnappings. We were responsible for catching our own enemies. If we brought them in alive, then they would get a trial, but if the target died during apprehension there usually wasn’t any push back about it. It was an uncomfortable and not entirely moral trade off. No one batted an eye when most of the people involved in the Sturm-Charles conspiracy died in the fight and not a soul had looked too closely at how Olivia Charles died by being eaten alive by rats.

There was even a term for it: House Warfare. We could signed paperwork legally sanctioning it from the district attorney and everything.

We didn’t drive to estate. Dad used to run his operations out of the house but after he and Mom got married he’d built a compound for it instead. They’d wanted privacy. Going into his base of operations was like driving onto a military installation. Tall fences topped with Constantina wire. Guard patrols. Vehicles usually only seen in action on battlefields. Heavy artillery. Houses that could afford it kept private armies and Dad had one of the best. He’d built it around the unit who had been trapped in the jungle with him during the war and walked out with him, and they were all loyal.

We pulled up in front of headquarters. Tyrus stayed close to my side as we cleared checkpoint and made our way in. Dad was standing behind Bug who had his giant wall of screens all dancing with various streams of data and information. On three of them were different angles of the telekentic that made the identification easy to make.

Mom stood a bit away from them, hands on her hips. “He’s got to be working on his own. William can’t possibly be this stupid! He wouldn’t condone this.” 

“Does Patrick have enough capital of his own to pull something like this off?”

Bug’s hands moved over his keyboards. “Yes, Sir. He got control of his inheritance from his mother’s side when he turned twenty-one. He’s been spending it like water, but he hasn’t gone through more than a third. The dick fucker must think it’s just spare change since he’ll get a larger fortune when he takes over the house.”

“He won’t live long enough to inherit his house.”

“So it was Patrick.” My voice sounded flat. My head was a big fuzzy, actually. That pill Troy gave me packed a punch. 

Mom turned around and saw me. Then she was right in front of me and hugging me close. “Thank God. I was afraid they’d make a move on you both.” She let go and looked up at me. “Are you all right?”

“No.” No point in lying to a truth seeker. 

“He watched the footage and got upset enough he set a building on fire. I gave him a sedative once we had him in the car to clam his nerves.”

“I put it back out.”

Someone must have either said something or glared at Bug. “He wasn’t going to stay put! If I didn’t send it to him he was going to run off looking for her!”

“I’m sorry about the fire.”

Mom didn’t look mad. “You learned that from your father.” 

“What did he do?”

“Nothing that we can’t fix later.” She pulled me towards one of the command chairs and urged me to sit. “I don’t want you to fall down once whatever they gave you finishes taking over. “

Good point. “Have there been any demands?”

“No.” Dad’s voice was flat. Dangerous. “Not a fucking word.”

“Major, do you want me to start squashing media?”

He thought it over. “No. I don’t want you to take anything down. And I want you to keep House Swift and House Crawford from taking anything down either. I don’t want there to be any way they can try to hide from this. Especially Crawford. Let the whole damn world see what Patrick really is. It might make us look weak, but that’s a misapprehension we can correct. There’s no way that he comes out of this looking like anything but a kidnapper.”

And that would give us free reign to take action. He was right. We could disabuse anyone who saw this as an indication that it was time to make a move on House Rogan.

Something got Bug’s attention and he tapped more keys. “I have an incoming call form Peter Pierce, Sir.”

“Put it on.”

Four screens together changed to an image of Peter Pierce seated at his desk. “Rogan. Any news?”

“No. Anything on your side?”

Peter’s face turned slightly and we could hear Bethany’s voice from another room. She was shouting at someone. “House Swift is trying to pull the ‘you’re an excise and we don’t have to talk to you’ card. If need be we’ll fly up to Ohio tonight and take it to their doorstep. Whatever it takes, we will get answers.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” Their was another ruckus from elsewhere in the house. 

“You just yanked me out of class! I’d like to know what’s going on!” The door behind Peter swung open and the blond haired storm that was Mel came in. “Dad! Why did the goon squa....”. She stopped, obviously taken by surprise to see Dad and his head quarters on her father’s screen. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Peter turned back to the monitor. “I’ll update you as soon as we have something.”

“We’ll do the same.”

The screen went blank as the call disconnected about the same time someone large sat down in the chair next to me.

“I wouldn’t have expected such a cordial relationship between House Rogan and House Pierce? Didn’t your parents taken down Adam?”

I shrugged. My head was messed up from the sedative and I was starting to get sleepy. “Adam was part of the Sturm-Charles nonsense. So was Dad’s cousin, Kelly. Peter and Tatiana aren’t Adam. Dad’s not Kelly. House Pierce will even admit that them stopping Adam as quickly as they did helped. He was going to burn down the whole city. Billions in damage and millions of lives.”

“So they are able to be sensible about it all.”

“Sensible enough House Pierce agreed to let Tatiana teach me how to control my magic.” 

Kealoha nodded. “Did you see the part where she slammed the one who tranqued her into the wall? I thought she wasn’t a levitatior.”

“She grabbed the clothes.” I tugged at my own shirt in illustration. “Dad taught her that. He sometimes questions people by strangling them with whatever they’re wearing. It’s effective.” I blinked my eyes to try and clear them. “Remember that. If you two ever get into a fight, fight her naked.”

Kealoha grinned. “You are stoned.”

“A bit. I got upset and set a building on fire, so they gave me something. Overreaction. I put it back out.”

“If it makes you feel any better, your father flattened the pool house. Cracked the pool, too. They’ll both need replacing.” He looked around while I leaned back in the chair. It was comfortable. “This is a nice operation. Castra has an excellent reputation. Among paramilitary corporations, this one is one of the most respected.”

“Yeah. Dad takes pride in it. Not only because it keeps us safe but,” I tried to stifle a yawn and failed, “because it makes a place for veterans. Not all of them go back into civilian life easily. Castra gives them a civilian job that maintains the structure they crave.”

“I suppose that can happen for a nation that gets pulled into as many fights as yours. It’s easy for us to forget that we’re fortunate. Oh, we have our drills and our training, but it’s been a while since anyone came at us.”

“No one wants to mess up paradise.” I yawned again. “You’re the go to destination right after Disney World. And a good hub for sea transport. The way you have it set up now, everyone can benefit form your presence, but the headache of actually running everything is on you.” What was it like? “Kind of like having the grandkids first.”

“That makes no sense.”

Really? “Does to me.”

“And the drugs.”

He was probably right.

A familiar presence came within my range. What little tension the sedative hadn’t yet pulled out of me simply drained.

“You just got a very dopey look on your face.”

“Samson.”

“What? Who’s Samson?”

“Dog. Great Dane. Brindle coat. Very loyal.” My head rolled over in his direction. “Dallas.”

Understanding came to him. “Ah.”

She came in with her uncle Cornelius, Samson by her side and Zeus by his. Kealoha hadn’t met Zeus yet, and he froze. It was funny, watching people react to Zeus. He wasn’t an Earth animal but rather one that had been pulled from the astral realm by a summoner. The summoner had called up several like Zeus, an odd combination of tiger and canine with blue fur, a snout with four nostrils and a fringe of tentacles in a mane around the head that glowed when they were agreesive, and several of what was described as bat-ape things. He’d set them on the house security of one of Mom’s client’s and had killed a lot of them. Mom and Cornelius had gotten worried when the client hadn’t answered her phone and hurried to her house. Technically an animal mage wasn’t supposed to be able to work with summoned creatures, but Cornelius had decided to give it a try. He and Zeus bonded and the tiger hound had been quite pleased to stay with him ever since. Since he was summoned by a prime, he didn’t vanish when the summoner was done and since the summoner had lost control of him, he couldn’t be banished. House Harrison was his pack now, with Cornelius as his alpha. 

So far no other animal mage was known to create a bond with a summoned creature. Then again, since word of Zeus had gotten out, summoners were more paranoid about going up against animal mages. I’d tried it with some that Mel had called in, but so far hadn’t be able to bond with one. Neither had Dallas, Diana or Matilda, Cornelius’ daughter, who were all primes. Cornelius was supposed to be a significant. An upper level one, of course, but still a significant. I wasn’t the only one who wondered if he didn’t fudge his test just to get his parents to lose interest and back off the pressure that often threatened to drown primes in society.

Dallas stopped in front of me, tilted her head curiously to one side, then leaned in closer until her face was only inches from mine. “You‘ve been drugged.”

“Troy did it. I got upset and set the building on fire.”

“He put it back out,” Kealoha offered helpfully. 

“Did they pull you out of school, too?” It couldn’t possibly be time for the high schools to let out. I couldn’t be that far out of it.

She straightened. “Of course. Siobhan was taken and you would be upset. You needed me so Uncle Cornelius came and got me.” She took my hands and pulled. “You cannot sleep in a chair. You’ll get stiff.”

“Rogan keeps ready rooms here,” Cornelius supplied. “There are bunks for when he his people have to be on hand in an instant. I’ve used them. They’re quite comfortable.” He pointed towards the hallway, I knew damn well were the ready rooms were, and Dallas began to shepherd me that way. I remembered being gently bullied onto one of the long, narrow beds and sinking down into it. Dallas pulled off my shoes, then her own and lay down next to me, nose wedging up under my jaw and an arm looping over my waist.

I slipped into a drugged sleep and dreamt that I was running after Siobhan, but every time I almost reached her a monster made of dark clouds and with massive claws would just grab her and yank her away.

It was Tyrus’ mind brushing against mine that roused me. He needed to go outside but didn’t want to leave my side. Checking the time, it was past five in the evening. Dallas was blinking awake as well.

“My animals. I need to see to them.” House Harrison had Dallas and her mother as well as cousins and other animal mages of lesser talent who didn’t belong to a house but worked for theirs for the protection it offered. Her animals would be have people to see to their needs while she was here, whereas mine only had me. We got up and made our way to the command center. Bug was still dividing his time between monitoring the constant flow of information for any signs of Crawford of Siobhan and routing contacts from everyone else working on the same.

“Jae? How are you feeling?” Mom was there, her expression drawn. She was barely holding it together. I sympathized. I doubted she’d calm down until she had her daughter back where she belonged. 

It was near pointless to lie to a truth seeker. It could be done if you wrapped your lie up in the truth, but I wasn’t in a frame of mind to do that. “Angry. I want to punch someone.”

She smoothed my hair back. “Understandable.”

“We were going to head back to the house. I need to make sure everyone’s settled.”

“Of course. I’ll get one of the guys to drive you.”

“I’ll take them.” Alessandro walked up with his smooth gait. He barely had an Italian accent any longer, not after living here for so long. “I’m of no use until I have a target anyway.”

She relaxed a bit. “Thank you. Could you stay with them. Just in case....”

“My pleasure.”

Just in case there was another attack. Patrick had what he wanted, but his actions set our houses on a direct path to war. We had cause against House Crawford and, as long as we took pains to keep civilians out of it, the world would stand aside and eat popcorn while we cheerfully slaughtered one another. In that war, we would be the winner. Crawford might have more telekenetics, but we had greater variety. All they could do was hurl rocks at us and try to level our buildings. We could bring down fire, hordes of animals, seduce their soldiers into surrendering, send a massive beast to pop the lids off their buildings and shoot around corners. And after all that, Mom and Liam could rummage through their minds and forced them to divulge all their secrets. 

I sometimes forgot how scary House Rogan and House Baylor could be.

Then again, Mom could have meant ‘just in case Jae sets something else on fire’. His power would nullify mine if need be. It’s what made other mages so afraid of him.

Alessandro drove us over in one of the SUVs. I wasn’t sure if it was his or one of Dad’s. There was still a security force on the house, and we still had to go through check points. Things were even more paranoid than usual. 

“Anything new come through while I was out?”

“Not really. Pierce said they were gaining ground with House Swift. Something is going on up in Ohio and they are confident it will turn in our favor.”

“And House Crawford?”

Alessandro let out a disdainful snort. “Denies any knowledge of Patrick’s whereabouts or actions. Your parents and Catalina believe them. Old Man Crawford isn’t this stupid, but he’s in a bind because Patrick is his heir. He has a daughter who is a prime, but I doubt he is thrilled at the idea of having to move on to her.”

Dallas nodded as she let Tyrus and Samson out of the car. “Primes can be hesitant to name a woman as heir. It can be difficult to find a husband for a female head of house. Mother says we’re fortunate, because Jae is the youngest of four and not necessary for the continuation of House Rogan. He’s free to marry into another house without weakening his own. And it’s nothing that the family hasn’t done before.”

That was true. Alessandro was a Baylor by marriage, because his own house had disowned him. It hadn’t been serious, of course. They’d expected him to come crawling back and allow himself to be auctioned off to the highest bidder to a pretty prime with a fat dowry in exchange for his noble title. The Segredo family was drowning in debt and had been surviving that way for generations, only he hadn’t wanted to. He’d wanted to earn his own way, and every time he’d earned money and brought it back to the family, his grandfather had thrown it back into his face. It had never occurred to them that he’d be perfectly content to walk away form being Count Segredo and marry a girl from an upstart house with no fortune to her name. By the time they’d realized their mistake, it’d been too late. They were wed and unwilling to change that fact.

My uncle looked between us. “It’s official, then?”

“We told Mom we’re willing, but she said they would wait to speak to Diana while Kealoha was here.”

He smiled. “Congratulations. I always knew you two would come together. Ever since that summer when she told you she preferred your hair curly and you stopped cutting it short.”

Dallas had been ten at the time. I felt my face heat up.

The menagerie didn’t wait for me to get to them. They ambushed me halfway through the house, everyone pushing to get closer. I let me magic splay out and over them, reaching out to touch them all physically and mentally, assuring them I was here and well while making sure they were likewise.

“I’ve never quite been sure about the bond. How much are they aware of you? I avoid using my antistasi powers around animal mages when I can since it seems to be hard on both the mage and the animals.”

“They are their own creatures,” Dallas supplied to him. “They know us and we know them. We give them love, food and companionship and in return they stay with us and work with us. We do not control them or see through their eyes. It’s a bond, much like what we may have with our families or with one another. Only we cannot communicate with another person the way we can with an animal.” She frowned, pondering this. “I suppose it is possible that our ancestor did at one time, from when we were called ‘Hamelin’ and before we came here, but that could also be just a legend blown out of proportion when compared with what really happened.”

Mom had told me that the same time she told me about Cornelius feeding Olivia Charles to the rats. They used to be called Hamelin, after the town where one of their ancestor’s supposedly stole a towns’ children when they refused to pay him for ridding them of their rat problem. We couldn’t control people, though. It was more likely that he just had the rats swarm back into the town and pester their children, maybe herd them away until the townsfolk agreed to pay them what they owed.

“But do they understand what’s going on?”

“They know I’m upset.” I gave belly rubs to the dogs. “They know that Siobhan is missing and that I’m worried for her. The cats will have the most trouble with that one. She’s their human space heater at night.”

I urged them back to our side of the house so that I could get their food out for them. We didn’t do kibble much. Raw meals were the usual fare at our house. I didn’t think it fair to feed kibble to the dogs and cats when the jaguars got hunks of raw meat. The birds usually fared for themselves. Contrary to what most people thought, animal mages were rarely vegan or vegetarian. Our animals weren’t and neither were we. The human animal was omnivorous and there were things we needed that our bodies more easily took from animal products. We understood the necessity of the circle of life and we lived it the best we were able. And our animals did not hold it against us if we ate a steak or chicken. 

But bonded animals of a mage knew not to eat one another, so I didn’t have to worry about the eagle trying to snack on the ferrets or the jaguars trying to make a meal of the schnauzer. 

Everyone was settled in and I opted against doing my usual drills for the night. Alessandro was relaxing on a sofa in the sitting room, one arm draped over the back while he thumbed through his phone. I was agitated. Jumpy. 

“I should have asked Bug for an equizol.”

“You don’t need an equizol. You should get some rest.”

“I slept a good four hours.”

“Under sedation. That’s not good sleep. This shit is likely to blow up big and we’ll need all hands on deck. You may be needed to help with surveillance and recon.”

He had a point, but I was more than just birds and sneaky rodents. “I can help in combat as well.”

“You can also set schools on fire.” So they’d told him about that.

“I put it out, and Dad flattened the pool house.”

He looked up at me with a lop sided smirk. “Your father owns the pool house. He doesn’t own your campus.”

Okay, that was fair.

I sat down on one of the sofas and kicked off my shoes. It was my sitting room. I’d be comfortable if I wanted. Dallas joined me, curling her legs up and leaning into my side. 

Alessandro went back to checking his phone. “So what do you think of him?”

“Who?”

“Kealoha? He’s been at your father’s headquarters since this all started. You think he really cares about Shevy or is he just trying to look the part so your parents think favorably towards him?”

I hadn’t really thought about it. Now that i did, I thought back to how he’d acted since his arrival. “I think it’s genuine. He asked me for advice on getting a one on one date with her, something without all of us around breathing down their necks. According to him, he wanted to consider her from the beginning, but his family was nervous about Tremaine and the presence of metamorph magic in the family. He argues that the truth seeking talent bred true even against Dad’s magic which usually drowns out such things. And he says he thinks he and Shevy could grow to genuinely care for one another if given a chance.”

“I think he’s right.” Dal rolled her ankles, making them pop before settling back down. “He seems to be an intelligent person with an even temperament. They look aesthetically pleasing together and their magic is compatible. It would be a good match.”

Uncle Al tapped his phone against his leg. “Between both your father’s people and our own, we’ve yet to find anything too negative about him. There are the usual youthful missteps. A few speeding tickets. Some photos of him being out at a night club with other young friends and drinking a bit too much, but that was one time. The typical case of some girl trying to claim she was pregnant with his kid which turned out to be completely false, especially since he’d never even been alone in the same room with her. Over the past four years, nothing. He’s been a clean example of a young prime from a politically and financially prominent family. And not from lack of others trying. Some of the steps his host families went through to try and lock him into a marriage. For a string of truth seeking houses, they were certainly devious.”

“See Tremaine. Just because they are truth seeker houses don’t mean they can be held up as the poster children of all things honest and decent. It mostly just means you can’t lie back to them.”

“True. From what your aunt can gather, their actions are the main reason he’s passed on any of their daughters. I don’t blame him. At least with us he’ll know what he’s getting into.”

We fell into silence again and it bugged me. I needed something to keep me distracted, so I grabbed up one of the remotes and browsed through the DVR options to find MacGyver. I was about four episodes behind so I started the oldest one to just veg.

We were on the third episode when the animals’ minds caught my attention. Dallas and I both looked up at the ceiling in reflex. There were flying machines incoming. Noisy ones. A moment later the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter’s blades started to grow clearer.

Alessandro keyed in a code to his phone. The line connected almost immediately. “Bug, who’s here?”

“House Swift. They are cleared to land. Security is standing by.”

He ended the call without a good bye and rose. Dallas and I joined him. I was not going to sit at the house and wait to be told. I hadn’t seen or heard Liam, so I knew he was either at headquarters or the Baylor compound working things from there. I wouldn’t be kept out of things while he was in the middle of it. If Sean were home he’d be right in the thick of it as well.

We left Tyrus and Samson with my other animals and went over with Alessandro. As we pulled up I saw a sleek, black sedan with a House Pierce plate between an SUV with a House Montgomery plate and a hybrid SUV from House Harrison. The trip over from the house was long enough for whomever showed up in the copter to already be cleared and inside. When we got through the doors it was to find Melody pacing back and forth while shooting daggers at the closed door that shut off the entrance form the command center. 

That was odd.

“You might as well stop glaring. He’s not in there.” A tall man with a thousand dollar hair cut and an Armani suit was helping himself to one of the coffee pots Dad kept going. He was looking at Mel with blue eyes and an amused expression. “We left the old goat in Ohio under guard. As of,” he checked his watch, “almost six hours ago, Alastair Swift is no longer in charge of House Swift. His idiotic refusal to help in this matter was the final straw. We don’t want the Butcher of Merida showing up on our doorstep.” He caught sight of us and smiled more broadly, giving a tilt of his head. “Darren Swift of House Swift.”

“Alessandro Baylor of House Baylor. This is my nephew, Jaehaerys Rogan of House Rogan, and his fiancé, Dallas Harrison of House Harrison.”

Darren’s brows raised. “House Harrison? An animal house if I recall correctly. Not surprising that they would seek out Rogan’s foundling.”

I could hear the edge in my uncle’s smile. “Rogan’s youngest child. I believe there is even paperwork to prove it.”

“Of course. No offense intended. I am not sure how they do things in Italy, but in this country primes rarely bother to raise someone else’s children. That these two,” he motioned between myself and Mel, “both found new families to take them in is a rarity.”

“I would call it a ‘blessing’.” My voice was flat, even to my ears. 

Melody’s entire expression was flat. She was at least standing still now, her arms folded over her chest and her gaze leveled at him.

“Of course. It certainly worked out for the both of you.”

“I would say it worked out for their families as well. My nephew is a treasured member of the family and I know that Prime Pierce adores his daughter.”

Swift gave a nod and didn’t push that line further. “As I was saying, this most recent misstep by my grandfather was the final nail in the coffin of his leadership for the house. Long overdue if you ask me. There were several in the family, my parents included, who thought he’d gone too far when he excised Bethany. She may not be a prime, but she is a dual. A significant summoner is nothing to sneeze at and a significant portal mage when it’s a new talent should not be wasted. I suspect he thought she’d reconsider, terminate the pregnancy and come crawling back. Only she didn’t, then this one had the audacity to not only come out a prime summoner but to grow up like, well, that.” He sept a hand to encompass Mel. Not at all a dwarf like her biological father but tall, lean and attractive. “There are at least three houses he could have made contracts with if he hadn’t thrown away his ability to negotiate your betrothal.”

Dallas’ fingers squeezed my own. “I don’t like you.”

He seemed unconcerned by that. “That’s what I like about animal mages. So direct and to the point.”

This guy was a jackass. “Why are we all out here?”

“I’m out here because I’m merely an average level summoner, but I also have a pilots license. I was just the taxi service. Melody’s out here because her parents were afraid she’d lose her temper and punch someone.”

She probably would. I had been adopted as a baby. Melody had spent nearly eight years being the bastard daughter of an excise and facing all the social snobbery that came her way because of that. She hated how people often looked down on her mother for being kicked out of her family when they thought no one was looking. And she had a major chip on her shoulder when it came to House Swift in general.

Still, I hadn’t been told to stay outside. 

I started towards the closed doors. My hand went out to the knob and I prepared to melt the lock if need be.

The knob turned and the door swung open without resistance.

A few heads turned my way, looking away from the wall of monitors that had been turned into what looked like a map. Dad nodded to me and said something to Grandpa Hart who got up with Troy to clear the two seats on his right. An unspoken invitation for me to join him and an extra seat for Dallas. We walked over and sat.

The map was of two continents foreign to me. A well dressed man with dirty blond hair in a high and tight and pale green eyes was standing before it. He waited until we sat down before speaking again.

“Starting over for the new arrivals, Dustin is considered a Significant by our family’s standards because he can open a sizable portal to three different worlds or realms. Unfortunately for him, but fortunate for us, one has a toxic atmosphere that a human body cannot remain in for more than ten hours before sustaining irreparable damage and another is a primal world with no civilized areas and a lot of large creatures that would love to make us into dinner. That means only the third is a viable escape option for him. Called Planetoss by the native populace, it has three known continents; Westeros, Essos and Southross.”

He used the pointer in his hand to indicate a land mass to the far bottom of the map. “We can rule out Southross. To date all attempts by the indigenous populations to make inroads there have failed. That leaves us with Essos and Westeros. Dustin has been excised from the family for nearly thirty years now, so our information on him is outdated. Before he was kicked out his experience was with Westeros. His knowledge of the Essosi languages was spotty at best. However, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t changed that in the past three decades. It is possible that he has built himself a comfortable safe hold in one or both continents.”

Augustine Montgomery tilted his head to one side. “How can we be sure he hasn’t cut out his own strong hold in the southern continent?”

“Because in our business, you try to blend in. You stick to settled areas. You adopt their manner of clothing and mimic their behaviors. You do your best not be noticed because you don’t want to become the ‘other’ and become the target of suspicion whenever something strange happens. You also want to have access to food and supplies. Setting up shop in Southross would leave him bereft of supplies and would draw suspicion when he arrived to port from that direction. In Westeros we keep our base of operations in Lannisport, operating a warehouse and shipping company there. In Essos, we do the same out of Bravos. Both locations allow us to keep tabs on pertinent gossip and trade opportunities.

“However, blending in also means we’ll be limited logistically. No vehicles, we couldn’t get fuel even if we did take them, and use of horses and carts. Any weaponry should be appropriate to the region or something that can be well hidden. Obviously there are no phone or radio networks. In Westeros where there are more trees and pockets of dense vegetation we could use small relay hubs secured into the top branches, but Essos would be more difficult. Any tech taken in needs to be something easily transported and removed when you leave.”

“Follow the Prime Directive?” I wasn’t sure who said it, but more than a few laughed.

“That’s the easiest way to put it. Of course, for an operation like this one, we do not expect to go in completely without any tech. Just... everyone make sure to pack out your trash.”

Dad was looking at the map. “Without vehicles we’ll be moving slowly. We’ll have to send in two teams. One for each continent.”

The man, he had to be a member of House Swift, nodded. “That would be the most efficient answer. And we’ll need to select who goes with care. There are currently only been seven people who could access Planetoss. Of course we can’t trust Alastair with this, not given his current temperament after being deposed. Three are currently deployed, one at the Lannisport base, one in Bravos and the third in another world all together. Dustin is fifth which leaves myself and Bethany. I did my submersed training in Bravos and am fluent in the common tongue as well as High Vylarian and Dothraki, so I can take the team for that location. Bethany was stationed in Lanisport and I am assuming she is willing to be the ride to Westeros.” He looked over to where Peter and Bethany sat. She gave a nod of confirmation even as she and her husband squeezed one another’s hands. 

“What sorts of talents do you recommend?”

“Preparation should include a prime telepath. One who knows how to transfer languages to get everyone going fluent. That will take a few days and it will not be pleasant. The spell hangover is a bitch. As far as going over there, psionics would be recommended if you can’t spare a truth seeker for each party. They will help cut through any prevarication and speed up information gathering. Combat talents of most types would be welcomed, though I would avoid fulgar or pryo talent in Essos. The Grass Sea is flammable and an out of control fire could devastate the region for years. An animal mage would be useful. We could face the Dothraki. Think... Huns or Mongol tribes. Horse mounted fighters and brutal. Most of the civilized areas of Essos pay them tribute just to get them to leave them alone. The ability to disrupt their control over their mounts would help dissuade any aggression from them should we cross their path. That being said, an animal mage in Westeros would be useful as well. Mounted cavalry and knights are very much a thing there, as well as hunting hounds and falconry.”

Diana Harrison frowned. “Would our abilities work on them? If the worlds you’re accessing are the same ones that summoners pull their creatures from, so far my brother has been the only animal mage to successfully bond with a summoned creature. We still haven’t figured out how he managed it.”

“Normally, I’d say ‘no’, but we have had animal mages in the employ of our house try it, and it does work with Planetoss animals. Not even primes or significant, as they are less likely to be away from an established house. Average and notable level mages. They’ve mentioned that it even seems... easier, somehow. Something about the fauna there appears to be more conducive to theriomancy.”

That was interesting.

“I’ll go.”

“No!”

I looked over a Mom. She was giving me a shocked, unbelieving look. Dad looked over to me, his own gaze contemplative before he nodded. 

“Connor!”

“He can handle it. He may even be better suited to it than most, given his background.”

Dallas was starting at me, her brow creased in concern, but it was Prime Harrison who spoke up. “I have a problem with this as well.”

What? “I don’t don’t understand.”

Dad rolled his shoulders. “You missed the part of the briefing where we had to clue everyone in about the day we got you and why Dustin is wanted by the National Assembly.”

Ah. So they had told everyone about the serum and the kidnappings. 

Dad looked over to Diana. “What is your concern, Prime Harrison?”

“Your briefing included information that Jaehaerys has a blood connection to this... Westeros. A noble one.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going to go over there and make myself king of Medieval Land. This is about getting Shevy back. I’m not planning to stay.”

“And if they offer you a crown?”

“Who’s gonna offer it to him? How will they even know who he is? He’ll just be a random guy, asking questions about another stranger.”

“I’ve no reason to stay in Westeros. I don’t know that place. It isn’t my home. But Siobhan is my sister.”

Diana looked past me to Dallas, her lips pursed. “House Harrison would like a contractual agreement.”

Dad nodded. “Go on.”

“We want it noted that Jaehaerys Rogan and Dallas Harrison will be wed within ten years. In exchange, I will go with the other team myself.”

That got Dal’s attention. “Mom?”

“You are young, but Cornelius will be here to help you with running things while I’m gone. It will be a good, practical learning experience for you. He can attend any meetings that you are unable to be present for yourself or where you feel you require an older family member. And he can help you with overseeing the care of the animals for both the house and for Jae.” She looked to Dad. “Is this acceptable?”

He looked over at me and Dal, then at Mom before nodding. “The kids have already said it’s what they want. I got no problems putting it in writing. We’ll hammer out the details before deployment.”

Mom still looked furious. “Honey, can we speak somewhere private?”

Dad gave me another look that might have said ‘you owe me’ and got up to walk out of the room with Mom. The door shut behind them.

“Well,” Augustine said while stretching his legs out before him, “I’ve got fifty on Nevada. Any takers?” There was a round of chuckles.

Swift went back to business. “Rogan, what animals will you be taking?”

“Tyrus. My wolf.”

He frowned slightly, nodding. “Westeros, then. Wolves aren’t exactly native to Essos.”

“That works for me.” Diana smoothed her slacks absently. “I prefer my cats. They’re panthers. Will there be enough game to sustain them?”

“That should be fine.”

Dallas tugged my hand. “You should take Shredder, too. For scouting.”

Shredder was massive. I looked to Swift. “Will a golden eagle cause too much of stir?”

“That would depend on how closely the natives observe it. They may just dismiss him as an abnormally large hawk or other raptor.”

He kept using words like ‘wolf’ and ‘hawk’. “Are these animals similar to ours?”

“Very. There are some size differences. The latest word we have from Westeros is that House Stark actually acquired a litter of dire wolves. Pups orphaned south of the Wall.” He used the laser pointer to indicate a structure that ran across the top part of Westeros. “A dire wolf is significantly bigger than common wolves which are more in line of the larger breeds of grey wolves here. A dire wolf can be large enough to ride when fully grown, though most people aren’t stupid enough to try it. It’s given a lot of the other lords pause, because the word is that the Stark children each have one and that the animals treat them like family.”

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who frowned at that. Kealoha was the first to broach the subject many of us were thinking. “That would seem to give some credence to the theory that the Osiris Serum awakens latent talents rather than creating ones out of nothing. You’re describing how animals act when bonded with an animal mage.”

“Maybe,” came another voice. “Then again, it would be a trait for the people from there. We’d have to do an in depth comparison of genetics to be sure.”

“This is _not_ a scientific expedition.”

We all turned around. I hadn’t even known Aunt Lina was here. Had she been standing in the back of the room the whole time?

She pushed away form the wall. Her expression said clearly she would not be ignored. 

“We are not doing this to study genetics of a new human population. We are not doing this to determine latent abilities versus new ones. We are certainly not going over there to obtain test subjects, which is the very crime Dustin Swift is wanted for in the first place.” Her eyes swept the room, holding gazes one by one until such time as the person she singled out lowered their own eyes. She eventually met mine, but there was something softer there. Something gentle. “I think there have been enough victims of such behavior. You’re going over there to bring Dustin and Patrick to face justice or to be buried, and you’re bringing Siobhan Rogan home.”

The double doors to the entrance opened and Liam came in with Sean by his side. Our older brother looked tense and tired. Dad must have called in some favors to get him cleared to come home for this given the current family emergency. The younger Major Rogan looked around the room at all the faces. “Where are my parents?”

Montgomery tilted his head as though listening for something. “I’m sure we’ll hear them eventually. They’re having a discussion over whether or not Jae should be included in this.”

Both of my brothers frowned. Sean shrugged. “Of course he should be. We all should be. This is a family matter.” He dropped his army duffle by the wall. “Dad called me in to sit on things while he leads the attack. Someone has to be there to deliver a few punches to Crawford’s face on my behalf.”

“If any of you believe there will be anything left of Patrick Crawford once you find them, you’re deluding yourselves.” Montgomery waved to the screen. “If he’s smart, which this very action alone proves that he isn’t, he’d use the portal as a diversion, double back and bring her back to this side of things where he has access to the kinds of resources he needs if he’s to have a hope of containing someone like your sister. If he’s over there, his only viable method will be to keep her sedated. He can’t do that constantly. Eventually he will slip up. The moment Siobhan has any control of her own faculties, she’ll strike. You three know her best. What is she likely to do when she comes to her senses and realizes she’s in danger; use her truth seeking abilities or the telekinesis?”

That was easy. “Telekinesis,” came out of all three of us at once.

Sean nodded. “Instinct will be to get the threat as far away from her as possible. A physical attack will be her go to.”

“Exactly. And this is the daughter of a man the Army used to level entire cities.” He leaned back in his chair and looked at Swift. “Our best case scenario is finding them before that happens. That’s also the most unlikely. Chances are they’ll find her because they’ll have to head to ground zero after Rogan’s little angel introduces Patrick Crawford to Hell. If his family is lucky, she’ll leave them enough to have a funeral. We can only hope she has enough of her wits about her at the time to limit collateral damage.”

Swift looked grim as he nodded. “What can House Montgomery offer?”

“I can get you illusion mages able to change their faces and the faces of others with the ease of breathing. Excellent for gathering intel and making parties disappear into a crowd whenever needed. They will also be able to cloak the teams if they need to be invisible. I’ll need to know how large the teams will be to know how many you need. It should help you with your ‘Prime Directive’.”

~***~

We decided to find our parents before one or both of them started tearing apart the building.

They were in the room that served as Dad’s office. We could hear them before we even got to the door.

“...and now you want to send the baby in there!”

I wasn’t a baby!

“He’s not a baby, Neva. He’s older than Bella was when she threw herself out of a damn helicopter to fight a giant summons! Catalina was his age when she went into a battle and charmed the enemy troops into surrendering. He is a grown man with the ability to summon a hordes of beasts or incinerate anything in his path. I’ve got the joint chiefs of staff and every over-medaled officer that ever met me calling me on a near daily basis asking me to convince him to sign up! He can do it.”

“I’ve got one kid already missing, now you want to send Liam and Jae to who knows where.”

“I don’t want to send them. I would rather go and do it myself, but I’m not under the delusion that I can do this on my own! We will need the right combination of powers and skills for this action. Liam will be with me in Essos and Jae will be with Alessandro in Westeros. Do you honestly think any magicless soldier with a sword is going to get past Alessandro to get anywhere near Jae?”

“And I’m just supposed to sit here and twiddle my thumbs?!”

“No! You and Sean will remain here in case that idiot comes back through to this side!”

Sean opened the door without knocking. He was a younger version of Dad. Same build. Same hair. Same eyes. Just considerably younger. The BDUs and combat boots didn’t really make much of a difference. Even as long as he’d been out of the service, Dad still moved and carried himself like a soldier.

“Don’t you two think this is more of a family type meeting?”

Mom’s eyes were blood shot from tears. She wiped angrily at her face even as she moved to hug Sean. “I missed you so much.”

He hugged her back and he suddenly looked a lot younger. “Missed you, too, Mom. It’s going to be all right. We’ll get her and bring her home.”

Dad watched on. It wasn’t that he was unaffected by any of this. If he had his way, none of us would be joining the teams. However, he also understood that we couldn’t be sheltered forever. People joined the military to go to war at 18. Sometimes younger if their parents signed off on it. A lot of those new recruits would come back in coffins if they’d been sent into combat zones. By law we were adults, even though I didn’t always feel like one. And this was something that needed doing. Someone had attacked our family and we had to strike back. 

Sean straightened his shoulders. He always tried to stand at attention when talking to Dad. Even when we were younger. Ever the first born son. It really annoyed me when we were all kids.

“When do we move?”

“We’re still putting together the teams and getting intel from House Swift. It sounds like it will take a few days for everyone to get straightened out on the languages.”

“Can we trust House Swift?”

“We can now. They’ve deposed Alastair Swift. Right now his eldest son Richard is in charge since they are still considered a summoner house. But the family has agreed they need to officially register the portal ability. Once that is done, Michael will be taking over as head of house. He’s an upper level significant when it comes to summoning, but he’s the most powerful portal mage they’ve had yet. He’s going to be going with one of the teams as our way in and out.”

So that was the name of the guy downstairs. Risky, sending your next head of house, but the action would look good politically. If he could mend fences with House Pierce and House Rogan, as well as help out the Office of the Wardens, the National Assembly would take note. Shrewd.

Dad pulled Mom and in held her close for a moment, lips against her temple. “It’s going to be fine, Nevada. We’ll go in, get the job done and come home with our daughter. We’ll all be home by Thanksgiving.”

“You fucking better.”

“We will. You want to be in there with Diana while we make the final decision.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “And that! Your father has agreed to put Jae’s engagement to Dallas in writing with Diana Harrison.”

Liam and Sean looked at one another, then shrugged. Sean said, “Yeah, we all knew that would happen” the same time Liam uttered “That is a surprise to no one.”


	3. Chapter 3

They hired House Piney to do the languages. They had government contracts and knew how to keep their mouths shut.

Swift had been correct in their assessment of how long it would take. Bug and Uncle Bern were monitoring surveillance and internet chatter in case Crawford grew some brain cells and actually came back over here. It would have nullified the need to make the trip and we could bring the full force of everything Dad had pulled together to bear. We weren’t that lucky.

The first day the two telepaths sent to do the job worked with Michael and Bethany. I suppose it would look strange to someone who didn’t work with magic regularly, but to us it was business as usual.. They drew complex magic circles on the bare concrete floors into which they and the people with the language they needed to learn sat down. It took them a bit over an hour to ‘copy’ the new language over into their own minds. The one working with Bethany only had to do the one, but Michael Swift knew a few different Essosi languages and thus took longer. 

While that was happening, the rest of us were kitted out. I’d grown a bit since the last time I’d been fitted for the Castra company work uniform, since I never had to wear one. I worked for Aunt Lina and didn’t get pulled into Castra jobs. This job wouldn’t call for the uniforms, but after they got us decked out in clothing suitable for the terrain, I found myself missing them. Living in the modern technological world had apparently left me spoiled. These weren’t the polished cottons, silks and micro fibers that I was used to. The weave was rougher and the fibers scratched. No zippers or buttons, either. The pants were laced. We could get away with modern underwear since no one was likely to see them, so there was that. I packed Tommy Johns so I’d have some comfort.

The clothing did allow for us to take the Scorpion IXs, which was good. The latest in protective vests, they were light weight and segmented so they moved with you with more ease than typical ballistic vests and were good for fired rounds and blades. The quartermaster assured us that they would withstand sword strikes and arrows, even if fired from a crossbow. Technically they were classified and were not available to civilians, but Dad always seemed to have connections. And because of how they were designed, we could wear them under the tunics over an undershirt. 

I packed my Tommy Johns for that, too. Call me soft, but if I was going to be roughing it for who knew how long, I was going to get my comfort where I could.

The next day was our turn. The telepaths could take us three at a time so the circles were a little more complex this time. After I got my ‘download’ I understood why they had taken a break after pulling the language from the Swifts. I spent the rest of the day feeling as though my skull was going to split open and hunched over a bucket throwing up while Mom put damp, cool cloths on the back of my neck. I had never seen what happened when you emptied your stomach completely and the neon yellow bile that came out towards the end was freaky. I would never fail to have sympathy for someone with a migraine ever again.

The next morning Diana and I got acquainted with the horses that would be our transport. American Quarter Horses, strong, even tempered and versatile. None of us were going to be wearing full plate armor, so we didn’t need heavy draft horses. These weren’t flashy and they were an excellent choice for first time riders. Good, since the saddles used in Westeros were not the western style that those of us who did ride were used to. They were also work horses and dependable. By the afternoon, we were ready to roll out.

Dallas came to see us off. We’d moved my animals to the House Harrison compound the night before and I’d said my good byes to them. Shredder was currently seated on the pommel of my horse’s saddle, something I’d requested be added just for that purpose, and Tyrus sat beside it, holding the reigns in his mouth. Dal was a bit fidgety as she stood by me.

“I don’t like this.”

“I don’t like it, either, but she needs us.”

She scowled. “Kick Patrick Crawford in the nuts for me.”

That made me smile. “I will.”

She moved suddenly, catching my face in her hands and looking into my eyes. “You are not allowed to go over there and become a king.”

“I know. I’m not going to.”

“If you don’t come back with the others, I’m coming over there and dragging you back. You come home to me.”

I pulled her close, wrapping her up in my arms and burying my nose in her hair. She always smelled like lilacs and vanilla, and looking at the light through her hair was like looking at the world on fire. “I will. I’ll always come home to you.” I pulled back so I could see her face and kissed her. I felt her fingertips dig into my shoulders as though she was afraid to let go. Sometimes it was hard to remind myself she was only seventeen and that we both needed to get a bit older. It was a struggle at times. I suspected that our families thought we were already having sex, but the truth was neither of us were ready to risk it just yet. A baby this early in our lives wouldn’t be fair to us or the child and no matter how good the companies claimed their birth control was, abstinence was the only fool proof answer. So we were waiting until we were older. At least until she was out of high school. Neither of us could even legally drink for crying out loud. 

Standing here now, with Bethany Pierce setting the last of the glyphs to open the portal that would take me to Westeros, a large part of me regretted that decision if only to have the memory of being that close.

Mom’s voice reached us. “Dallas, we need to get out of the way.” Dal pulled back and nodded. She stepped back slowly, not letting go of my hands until the last moment before making room so Mom could give me a hug. “Go in there, get the job done and come home. And bring your uncle back safe. I don’t want to have to put up with Catalina if he doesn’t.”

She was putting on a brave face, but I could hear the worry in her voice. “Hey, we’ll be fine. It’s the guy who breaks cities you should be worried about. Make sure he knows not to go over there and level everything.”

“You just be sure not to torch everything.”

She gave me another hug before going over to Dad’s side. They would be heading out right after us. 

The air crackled and sparked. On instinct I reached out and made sure our horses stayed calm. A tight sphere of black and purple light came into being over the glyphs Bethany and drawn, swirling and growing until it filled the space between the industrial garage and the helipad. The center thinned out before snapping into place and we all stared at the scene on the other side. The sky was clear and dark, with countless stars. The area was wooded and the ground covered in fallen leaves and brush. 

“Portal is stable. We’re good to move forward.” Bethany took the reins of her horse and walked her through, leading the way. We started moving with her. Four man teams were usually the go to for a mission, because they can be split off into pairs and blend in if need be. We were taking twice that number. Bethany for transport. An illusion mage by the name of Stephen Harrow who was one of Augustine’s people and came highly recommended. Terri, an ex-Marine Mom had insisted on sending because she was an Aegis, a mage who could summon a protective shield that could deflect physical attacks. Mark, a former Army Ranger who wasn’t a mage but was an excellent soldier and skilled at survival in hostile and unknown terrain. Somehow Kealoha had gotten his family to agree to his joining us and would be responsible for detecting bull shit as well as interrogations. Myself and Alessandro, and somehow Melody had convinced her parents to let her come along as well. When I asked why she was coming she just shrugged and said ‘muscle’. 

Well, Bethany said the summoning magic worked within other worlds and realms and I suppose giant beasts with tentacles and claws could be considered ‘muscle’.

Once we were all through with our horses and the cart carrying our supplies, Beth dismissed the portal. We stood there for a few moments, breathing in the scent of ozone and forest.

This was probably the strangest day of my life.

~***~

Bethany needed a rest after opening a portal that size. We knew this when we came over and the rest of us set up camp while she caught her breath. She’d brought us to what was called the Riverlands. She and Michael had reasoned that Dustin would be avoiding Lannisport and the Westerlands to avoid being noticed by the members of House Swift that were stationed there. The people in the southern regions such as the Reach were ‘too gossipy’ and the crown lands were thick with knights and lords who could easily take offense at the slightest imagined slight. If you weren’t their peer, your life could be made quite difficult. The North was not only cold but the people could be surly and distrusting of strangers. Given all that, the Riverlands would be a good place to just disappear and lay low.

It was also pretty sizable, so the search could take a while.

Augustine might have had a point when he said that we wouldn’t find Siobhan until she blew something apart.

After the tents were set up and the fire lit, Bethany pulled one of the tablets we’d packed from the wagon. We had solar chargers we could lay out in the wagon during the day to power them up during the day. It wasn’t the fastest method, but it would allow us to keep some of our toys going. She powered it up and pulled up the map of the area. 

“We have to go by what the local cartographers can do, but this should be good enough for us to navigate from. Once it gets light, I recommend we go this way.” She used a stylus to mark out a path and circled a structure. “This is an inn. They tend to pop up where roads cross between settlements. Best place to get local gossip and news if you aren’t in a city tavern. If there’s been anything hinky in the past few days, it’ll reach there first.”

Alessandro was studying the map. “What’s the aspect for this? How long should it take to reach the inn?”

“If we start out early and have no delays, we should be able to get there in under a day. With luck they’ll have room for us to stay the night which will allow us time to glean whatever info we can.”

“I can help there.” Kealoha was passing out light rations. We’d eaten breakfast that morning but most of us had skipped lunch because we weren’t sure how well things would stay down going through the portal. “If I think someone knows more than they are letting on, I can encourage them to share more.”

My uncle arched a brow. “I’ve seen both Nevada and Catalina do that. They can be so subtle the target doesn’t even remember the conversation. Are you that good?”

Kea bared a white flash of teeth. “Maybe even better.”

“I doubt that. But it will be fun to see.”

We settled in. Mark and Terri fell asleep without trouble. I think it came from being soldiers. They could sleep anywhere, but you should be careful how you woke them up if you wanted to avoid finding yourself in a choke hold. Dad was still that way and I’d found out the hard way Sean had picked up the habit last time he was home on leave. Bethany and Alessandro had little trouble as well. Stephen had gone into his tent and I didn’t know him well enough yet to say much about the guy. 

Kea, Mel and I stayed outside a bit longer with our heads on our packs, looking up at the sky. Our home was on the outside of Houston, sure, but we were still close enough to all the light pollution that we didn’t get nearly as many stars as we could see now. 

“Mel? Why did you come along?”

“Because she’s my friend. My best friend, really. You were a year behind her so you hadn’t gotten to high school yet. I still got crap from the bitches about my mom being an excise and not knowing my ‘real’ dad. Then halfway through lunch my first day of sophomore year, some freshman girl plops her half empty lunch tray at my table and sat down. She’d gotten fed up with the catty bitches where she had been sitting, all trying to get into her good graces because she was a Rogan. She just looked at me and said ‘Hi, I’m Shevy. Your aunt tutors my baby brother. Wanna trade jell-o?’”

Kea chuckled. I grinned. “Did you?”

“Of course. I had lime and she had cherry. I hate lime.” She smiled up at the stars. “Everyone thought we’d be at each other’s throats, what with the belief that Rogan and Pierce hated each other. Shevy said ‘screw it’ and decided she would be my friend and the rest of the it crowd could kiss her ass if they had a problem. Keep that in mind, Surfer Boy. She won’t take any crap.”

“Never thought she would. It’s not her reputation.”

Mel rolled over onto her stomach. “So why did you come? Trying to get in good with House Rogan so they’ll look favorably on any offer?”

“I doubt Mad Rogan would be swayed by such things. I’m certain Nevada wouldn’t be. No, I’m doing this because Crawford is an example of the worst of our kind. Primes like him, the ones who think their money and power let them do anything, they give us all a bad name. People still fear us and what we can do.”

He had a point. “I don’t even know what he was thinking. How was this supposed to work? This world may be stuck in the past but ours isn’t. Shevy won’t be forced to marry him because her ‘reputation’ is damaged by this stunt.”

I could practically hear Mel roll her eyes. “Oh come on, it’s obvious why he pulled this stunt. It’s still stupid, but it’s obvious.”

“Care to clue me in? Because I’ve been wracking my brain over it and I still can’t figure out what he was thinking.”

“It’s because the story of how your parents met has been romanticized by idiots everywhere.”

Kea’s head came up off his pack. “Wait, that actually happened?! I thought it was just a story.”

I shook my head. “He can’t be that dumb. And it did happen. Dad did abduct mom from the Mercer Arboretum, take her home and interrogate her. The part that gets left out was how after that she had black market shockers put in just in case they ever crossed paths again. She used them on him, too. She’s got too much magic to have them if we’re being truthful, they usually don’t put them in anyone over notable, sometimes significant, but in a prime they can be lethal. They also don’t mention all the times she threatened to shoot him or someone else in the family threatened to shoot him. Or the fights they had before the two of them finally got their heads on straight and realized they were in love.”

Mel affected what I think was supposed to be a giggly girl expression. “It’s sooooo romantic. A tortured, haunted ex-soldier, required by his country to do horrible things at war, rescued by the love of a strong, beautiful woman.” She put a hand against her forward and wilted.

Kealoha arched one dark brow. “And Crawford thinks he can recreate this and win over Siobhan? I may have only known her a week, but even I know she won’t go for that. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Montgomery’s right. She’s gonna rip him apart the first chance she gets.”

“He probably started feeling inadequate when you showed up. It’s not like he can offer her a mansion in paradise with a private black sand beach.” Mel kicked her feet idly. “I hope she leaves something for us. And I know Mom wants to tear into Dustin. The portal trick isn’t even officially recognized yet. The last thing they’ll need to be dealing with the fall out of misusing it.”

“Can you do the portal trick?”

“Nope, strictly a summoner. But I’m a prime summoner, so if we need an army of other world beasties, I’m your girl. I can even call up things as big as Bella gets when she hulks out.”

“That could be useful. Anything else?”

“Well....”

Wait. What? I craned my head back to look at Mel. “You’re a dual?”

She shook her head as though to dismiss it. “It’s nothing. I have a tiny bit of cycrokenisis. Average level at most. We’re not even sure where it came from. I’m not going to be plunging a room into a blizzard or anything. I pretty much have to be touching an object to freeze it.”

I rolled over, careful not to crush Tyrus who made some muffled sounds of sleepy protest at being jostled. “How come I’ve never heard about this?”

“I don’t like to talk about it. I rarely use it, and I only found out by accident.”

“How?”

She sighed. “You know how my parents got married right before I turned eight? They postponed their honeymoon until after my birthday so I wouldn’t feel abandoned. The following weekend they left to go to Hawaii, of all places,” she threw a smirk at Kea, “and left me and the twins with Dad’s mom and the staff. The boys were five and a handful, but overall okay. Well, you know how their mom was assassinated in an attack against her own family? With Peter and Mom gone, the other house apparently thought it was a good time to wipe out the rest of the bloodline.”

My jaw dropped. “They sent someone after the boys?”

She nodded. “We were all asleep. I was feeling kind of lonely. Dad’s mom didn’t care for me and Mom was so far away, so I’d summoned up a friend to keep me company. This big thing that was a cross between a cat and an ant eater with purple fur and yellow eyes. The twins loved it. Anyway, he was sleeping by my bed to keep me company and apparently the things have super hearing. Or smell. Not sure which, but it definitely realized that someone was there who shouldn’t be. Got all agitated and woke me up. I got out of bed and we were creeping around to check things out when we found two guys all in black skulking down the hallway towards the other bedrooms. The summon could see them, or smell them, either way it charged that direction. They started shooting at it. I still don’t know what the fuck I was thinking, but I just screamed and ran towards them. I guess they figured I wasn’t a threat, I mean I was eight, and were more worried about the thing with claws. I remember jumping on one of them, grabbing his face and,” she flexed her fingers, “I froze him. His eyes and part of the brain behind it. He didn’t even have time to scream. It was super gross, because the liquid in the eyes expanded and they ruptured. The creature and the other one got each other. He was bleeding out and making this gurgling sound when the rest of the staff got there. Anyway, Mrs. Pierce called Dad and Mom back from their trip and I just knew I was in deep shit. When they got home I just started bawling, afraid he was going to send me away, only he came into my room, scooped me up onto his lap and told me he was proud of me. That I’d protected the family and I’d been in the right.”

Wow. I hadn’t been in a position to kill anyone yet, and she’d made her first one when she was eight. “Is that why the twins think the sun shines out of your ass?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” She looked at Kealoha. “What about you? Hiding anything special that might come in handy?”

“No. I’m a truth seeker and nothing else. Not anything like his family of over achievers.” He jerked a thumb in my direction. 

“Right? It’s disgusting! Did you meet Leon? They pretty much had to bully him into registering. He wasn’t going to do it even though he knew he’d be a higher tier mage. A prime magus Sagittarius! That guy can line up shots that will ricochet and kill someone two rooms over around a corner.”

“About my third day here. He said if I did anything to make Siobhan cry, he’d make sure they’d never find my body.”

“That’s the guy. I wonder why we didn’t bring him?”

Alessandro’s voice called out from his tent. “Because he’s shit with bows and we couldn’t let him bring that many guns with ammo! Go to sleep!”

All three of us chuckled and settled down. The laughter died fairly quickly, though. I felt Mel’s hand reach over and tap me on the shoulder before fluttering her fingers at me. I reached up and took them, turning my neck to look at her. 

“We’ll find her, Jae. With the two of us on the job? We’ll find her.”

~***~

The Riverlands were cold. Beth said that the North was much colder, but when you lived in Houston, Texas where the seasons were pretty much Summer and Hell save for three days in January, nearly everything felt cold. Kealoha had it worse than me. And the ex-soldiers made us look like pussies.

The thin panels of the solar chargers were laid out atop the tarp covering our gear in the wagon, hidden from ready view by the sides as we made our way out of the woods and onto the muddy road that would take us to the inn. Except for a grizzled old man in a two wheeled cart pulled by an aging horse, we didn’t see anyone else on our journey. He gave us a brief nod, but no other greeting.

“Don’t take it personally.” Bethany gave a slight shrug after he’d passed out of ear shot. “He doesn’t know us. Given what was in his cart, I suspect he’s a farmer on his way back to his home.”

It did take us until dusk to reach the inn. It was a sturdy looking building with two stories. The scent of woodsmoke and roasting meat was thick in the air about it. A skinny boy with shaggily cut hair and a dirty face came up to us we pulled in. 

“Can I tie up yer horses, sers?” He offered a smile which fell off his face when he saw Tyrus. His eyes grew nearly as big as his head and he stepped back, face pale. 

“Don’t be afraid. He won’t hurt you.” I dismounted, patting Foster (I had to name the horse something) on the side of his broad neck. “His name is Tyrus. This is Foster. Thank you for the offer, but I should see to the horses. You can help if you like.”

There was a screech from overhead and Shredder picked that moment to swoop down and land on the pommel of the saddle. He always did hate to be left out, the show off. The boy’s eyes grew even bigger.

“Is... is the bird yers too?”

“Probably better said that I’m his. This is Shredder.” I rubbed the back of my hand against the golden brown and tan feathers of his breast while he preened. “Yes, you’re quite handsome you vain creature. Fly up there and get some rest.” It didn’t matter what language I used for them. They understood my intentions more than anything else. As asked, he took off and flew up into the trees by the inn to find a branch for the evening.

The kid was looking up at me like I was amazing. I couldn’t decide if it was flattering or uncomfortable. “So can you help me with the horses?”

He shook himself out of it. “Yes, ser!” He reached for Mel’s reins and I ignored the little nose scrunch she sent my way. 

He showed me where I could park the wagon and tie up the horses for the night. Together we got them water and oats. His name was Bren and his family owned this inn. His father owned it now, before it belonged to his grandfather and great-uncle. His mother tended the kitchens and made the best meat pies I would ever taste. My wolf was very handsome and he hadn’t known anyone other than the Starks had wolves. Where did I find him and how did I tame him? Where did I get my bird? He’d never seen a bird that large, not even the falcons the high lords sometimes had with them when they came through. Did I hunt with him? 

I answered his questions as vaguely as I could because he wouldn’t know of places like Alaska or Yellow Stone. I kept things to answers like ‘on a trip with my father’ or ‘in the mountains’. While he chatted on I reached out with my magic to some of the horses already there, just to see how they reacted to me. 

The magic brushed out to them gently, a subtle greeting. Usually I had to make the first move to an animal and win their trust. Not with these, though. No sooner than I touched their minds then those minds opened up to me as though I’d always been there and known to them. They seemed to reach out to meet me part of the way and I suddenly knew all I needed to know. I knew that the black mare at the end of was newly pregnant and her appetite had increased accordingly. The roan was very old for a horse and his joints ached. He wanted to be done with pulling carts and just rest. The sand colored horse just to his right was in pain because it had picked up a small stone that its rider had so far failed to notice. 

Frowning, I went over to the horse and got him to life his back left leg. “Bren, can you bring me that pack?” The boy picked up my bag, it was a bit hefty, and pulled it over only able to barely clear it from the ground. 

“That’s a load, ser.”

“I’m afraid I never learned how to pack light.” I opened one of the outer pockets and fished out the hoof pick I kept there. I made nicker sounds to him as I worried the thinnest part of the pick in and worked out the stone. “There you go. That should do get you starting to feel better.”

“The one who rode him in was claiming he was going lame.”

“Not lame, just uncomfortable.” I patted the horse’s flank fondly. “If he lets him rest up a bit he should heal up nicely.”

“I reckon he’ll be glad t’hear that, ser.” The boy smiled brightly to me. I reached into the pouch of coins that Bethany had made sure we all received with our gear, a few coins inside in case we needed them, and I gave him a few coppers for helping me out. He thanked me and pocketed them, walking back with me to the inn.

The rest of the group was seated at a rough wood table, a pitcher between them. I sat my pack down by the long bench seat and sat down at the end. Tyrus took up a spot by my feet. 

“They only had one room left.” Alessandro poured what looked like some type of dark ale into a tankard for me. “The girls will take it. Maybe if Mel’s not there you’ll be quiet and the rest of us can get some sleep.”

“Very funny.”

A pretty girl, maybe the same age as Dal, came over to set down a large platter with thick slabs of roasted meat and vegetables along with freshly baked bread. There were other pieces of bread as well, cut round and flat. The Swifts had told us about these. They were similar to ‘trenchers’ used on Earth in medieval times. Rounds of bread used as plates. The bread would soak up any drippings or sauce from the food. At home they could be eaten last but were more often given as alms to the poor. Here if you chose not to eat them they were often fed to the animals. It was a way to use up bread that didn’t get eaten before it went stale.

I glanced around the room as surreptitiously as I could manage and noticed that nearly everyone else there was looking at us. I slipped into English just to be safe. _”We seem to be drawing attention.”_

 _”Of course we are.”_ Bethany helped herself to some of what looked like roasted carrots or parsnips. _”We’re eight strangers, clearly well fed which means we have the means to care for ourselves which likely means money, and you have a large wolf sitting at your feet like a loving and loyal puppy. We’re going to draw attention. I’d like to say things will go relatively smoothly but given how the men in this party look, we’ll run into a challenge now and then as some local tough wants to try and establish dominance. Just try to limit any permanent damage. The life these people live would not be kind to a person with a permanent disability.”_

Great. So much for keeping a low profile.

But I wasn’t going to make Tyrus sit outside and hide.

I reached out and gave him a scratch behind the ears before cutting off a chunk of fatty meat for him.

We were enjoying the simple fare when my helper showed back up, a large bone with strips of raw meat still clinging to it. “I asked mum if I could have one of the large bones for yer wolf. Can... can I give it to him?”

Knowing he was being spoken about, Tyrus lifted his head, ears perked forward. The bone wasn’t cooked, so it should be safe. 

“He’d like that.” I looked down at him. “Be polite.” He sat up on his haunches and took the offering with noble delicacy. Bren’s face split with a bright smile. “He says ‘thank you’. I thank you as well.”

He grinned again and hurried off.

Mel smiled. “Looks like you made a friend.”

“It’s Tyrus. He’s a people wolf.”

The ale was dark and slightly bitter. Dad didn’t let me drink often at home, I was still technically underage, but there were no such laws here and we had no way of knowing how clean the water in the area was. Still, it wasn’t as good as the few times I had been allowed something. It seems I had developed a somewhat snobby palate. Here’s hoping Sean didn’t find out. When we weren’t in a state of family emergency he delighted in playing the oldest brother. It didn’t seem he was going to grow out of it any time soon.

The innkeeper, a spare man with a closely shorn beard and his wiry hair pulled back from his face, made his way to our table. His apron showed signs of his trade with a few splotches of grease spattered from the fires. “Will there be anything else I can be getting for you, m’lord?”

‘M’lord?’ I looked up and he was addressing me, his expression polite and somewhat anxious. Alessandro arched a brow and exchanged a look with Bethany across the table.

I glanced around the table and back up. “No, we’re quite fine. Maybe some more ale for the table. You don’t have to call me that. I don’t have a title.”

He looked puzzled and uncertain. “I wouldn’t presume to give any slight, Lord Robb.”

Who? “I’m sorry, I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Jae, not Robb.” We had discussed this before leaving, too. The Swifts said that Jaehaerys was a Targaryen name and the Targaryens were not well thought of by many. I was to go by my nickname of ‘Jae’ to avoid any potential trouble.

The uncertain look slowly gave way to a bit of embarrassment. “Oh, sorry. I thought it was odd. I’d heard the Young Wolf had ginger hair, like his Tully mother. But y’had a wolf what seems to obey ye. An’ y’look just like Lord Eddard Stark. I saw ‘im when he came through with he King on their way to the capitol. And both his daughters had wolves.” 

Stark. The name punched me in the gut. My birth mother’s family. 

“Then I can understand the confusion. I’m not a Stark.”

Kealoha saw his chance to work. I felt the brush of magic against my skin as he turned his broad, kind face to the innkeeper. “We’ve been away for a long time and don’t know the latest news. Is there anything we should know?” He gestured to an empty space at the end of the bench across from me and the innkeeper sat down, his eyes trained on Kea now.

“You should be careful going around. Things are tense what with the war.”

“What war?”

The innkeeper leaned forward. “The war for the throne. It’s jus’ getting started. King Robert, he rode all th’way up north to Winterfell to ask Lord Stark to be ‘is Hand when Lord Aryn died. That’s why they passed through here. Was more’n a year ago. But th’king’s dead. He went out on a hunt and got gored by a boar. Prince Jeoffrey is king now, only Lord Stark said he shouldn’t be.” He leaned in closer, eyes darting about as he lowered his voice. 

“Lord Stark claimed that Queen Cersei was fuckin’ her own twin brother, the King Slayer, Ser Jaime. Said that her children were her brother’s bastards and not the King’s babes. Jeoffrey had him thrown into the Black Cells for treason and sent for Robb Stark to come to Kings Landing to bend the knee. The North refused. The Young Wolf has called his banners he has. Lord Tully and the Riverlands support him, since Lord Stark is married to Catelyn Tully. The Vale ain’t thrown their support in yet, not officially, but Lady Arryn is a Tully, too. And while all that’s going on, Lord Stannis, King Robert’s brother, has claimed he is king because his brother had no legitimate heirs.”

Kea’s magic flitted about a bit more. It was very subtle. Just coaxing the man to share. He was trustworthy. No harm could come of speaking to him. “Do you think it’s true?”

“I can’t say, but I saw the king and the queen. I saw the princes and princess. I don’t know if they have any Baratheon blood in them, but you can tell by looking at them they are Lannisters. And that Jeoffrey, he’s a piece of work. There was some fall out between him and the youngest Stark girl. He says she set her wolf on him. The girl said that the boy threatened her and the wolf was just protectin’ her. It bit him. The queen demanded that the wolf be killed, but it had run off. She had the other wolf killed instead. Lord Stark saw to it himself, he did. I heard him tell one of his men to take the wolf back to Winterfell to be put in the family crypt with his ancestors. He didn’t like doing it. He’s a good and honorable man, Lord Stark. I don’t believe he’d commit treason. He’d only make those claims if he truly believed the queen played the king false.”

Kea continued the conversation. Bethany fed him questions in English. What lords had mobilized. Where were their troops believed to be. She asked about individual lords by name. There was a visible cringe from the innkeeper when Kea passed on her question about “The Mountain”.

“He’s a beast, he is. A monster! He’s been raiding villages since before the king’s death. Lady Stark took Tyrion Lannister prisoner. Said he’d tried to have her son murdered. Lord Tywin’s me rode out in response.”

A look of shocked disbelief cross Beth’s features and Melody choked off a gasp. 

“His men are holding Harrenhall. They say they torture people there.”

Kea pulled back his magic slowly. Eventually the innkeeper blinked and realized he was seated at our table. “Begign’ your pardon’s sers.” He quickly got up, wiping the seat and table where he’d been. “Don’t know why I acted so forward. I’ll bring ye some more ale. And my wife made some berry tarts. Would you like me bring you some of those as well?”

We graciously accepted the tarts and waited until he was out of earshot before dropping back into English.

_”Mom?”_

_”There’s no way. Not unless he had a monumental shift in personality. I don’t know what Catelyn Tully thinks, but there’s no chance Tyrion would kill a child or order one killed.”_

Alessandro frowned. _”You know him?”_

_”He’s my baby daddy. Melody’s bio dad. I know the Lannisters, some better than others. I would like to think the twins wouldn’t stoop so low as incest, but if they did, I promise you that it was Cersei’s idea. She always had her brother wrapped around her finger, and she hates Tyrion.”_

My uncle frowned. _”We’ve managed to stumble into a damn civil war.”_

 _”That could work for us or against us.”_. Mark’s expression was one of contemplation. _”Even with the current period weapons, wars cause chaos and damage. If any of you have to cut loose, it could be easier to sweep under the rug. On the other hand, it could also make it harder to notice if Siobhan gets loose and strikes out against her captors.”_

 _”It will also make it harder for us to move about without notice. We’re more likely to find ourselves in conflicts.”_ Alessandro looked towards Melody, then to Bethany. _”What kind of combat training did you give her?”_

_”Probably not the level you put your kids through, but she can hold her own. I’m only a significant level summoner. Mel is a prime. She can pull something through and it will stay until either killed or she dismisses it. And she’s a good shot. We brought firearms, we should just avoid using them if possible. Your wife said they were mainly for you.”_

_”They are. As long as I have weapons and ammo to copy, I should be fine. Terri, you stay close to Melody just in case.”_

Terri frowned. _”I was sent to protect Jae.”_

_”You were sent as part of this unit and I am the lead. Jae can protect himself. I know what he can do and I suspect most people will take one look at Kealoha and decide to go for easier targets. You protect Melody.”_

Terri nodded in affirmation. She didn’t look happy about it, but Dad has made it clear that Alessandro was in charge. She would obey orders.

The berry tarts arrived and they were delicious. When it got later the girl from before showed the women where they would be sleeping while we went out to make camp at the wagon. A couple of the other patrons were already there, passed out and snoring on stacks of hay. Out of habit I bade the horses good night, ours as well as the others, but rather than lie down in my bed roll I moved towards the woods.

“Jae?”

I looked back at my uncle. “I just want some time. I want to see about something.”

“All right. Don’t go too far and take Tyrus with you.”

As though he wouldn’t come with me already. We went into the woods until I could no longer see the light from the fire and I stood still for a moment, breathing in the clean air.After a while I sat down at the base of a large tree and took up the lotus pose. I centered myself and I considered things. If the horses here were so easily welcoming to someone like me, would the other animals be as well?

I sent my mind and my magic out around me, an invisible mist of power and thought, seeking out the native fauna of the land. 

I found little rodents nesting in their warm dens. I found birds in nests and branches in the trees. The nocturnal species were in the peak of their nightly hunts. All of them felt me. They reached out with their minds and touched me. It was like dozens and dozens of voices going ‘Hi. How are you? Are you friendly? Can I trust you?’ 

I made sure they knew I meant them no harm and continued seeking to see what I could find. And I came across a larger mind. A more alert mind. It felt like Tyrus or the twins, only...more some how.

And it was in pain. Not physical pain, but heart sick. Lonely. Bereft. I quested closer and it peered at me with its mind’s eye. Curious. 

She. Not it. Female. And I could feel the indelible fingerprints of another mage’s mind on it. Untrained but definitely there.

_Why are you sad?_

Suddenly I saw what the beast saw. It shook me. I have never seen this. The vision was different, because a wolf did not see the same as a human. I saw the two leg threatening my two leg. I attacked, protecting her. Why did she get mad? Why did she make me leave? I came back the next day and they were gone, and there was blood on the ground. My littermate’s blood. My two leg left me and I didn’t know why.

The wolf. The younger Stark girl’s wolf who attacked the prince.

 _She didn’t want to leave you._. It didn’t take a genius to know that. _The others were mad. They were going to kill you. She sent you away so you would live. She was trying to protect you as you protected her._

My girl was gone! My girl had left me! 

_She didn’t want to leave you. She is as sad as you are._ She was. I knew this. I was sad to be away from my other bonded animals. The suspicion we had about the Starks was right, I could feel it here in the wolf’s mind. It was untrained and had the innocent clumsiness of a child, probably the same traces I left when I was a baby bonding with the puppy Cornelius had given me, but it was clear. There was animal magic in the Stark girl. It would explain why they could have dire wolves at their sides without fear. _Who are you?_

Nymeria. I was Nymeria.

I pulled away from the wolf, pulling my magic back to myself and clumsily got to my feet. I’d been sitting long enough for my legs to get numb again. I really had to avoid doing that in potentially hostile territory. Tyrus and made our way back to the inn’s grounds and I fell into my bed roll, my body not as tired as it usually was when flexing my magic, but travel could really take a lot out of you.

~***~

“Jae. You need to get up now.”

I made some mumbling sound that I couldn’t even understand and pulled the blanket up to my ears. 

There were voices near me. Agitated and worried. Above them I heard Mel. “Just put them down. We’re not in any danger.”

“Not in danger?! Do you see the size of that fucking thing?!”

Alessandro’s voice was firm as he shook my shoulder. “Jae, get up. We need you.”

“Five more minutes.”

“No, you get up now.” The blanket was pulled away quickly and the chill morning air slapped me. I jerked away with a start and pushed up onto my hands to glare at my uncle. He just gave me a stern look and nodded off to my right.

I turned my head that way. Tyrus was by the tree line, lying on the grass and leaves, his tail wagging as he groomed another wolf who was considerably larger.

Oh. That might explain the agitation.

“Are the horses upset? No, they’re not. If it was a danger, they’d be the first to panic.”

“She.” It came out in a yawn as I shifted and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “She’s a she, not an it.”

“There, see? _She_ isn’t a threat.” Melody sounded a bit exasperated. _”I am so going to start calling you Snow White.”_

I managed to get up. I rubbed at my head with one hand while I gave a nearby horse an affectionate pat with the other on my way to the tree line. “Tyrus, here bud.” He got up and padded over. Nymeria stayed where she rested watching me. I met her gaze and thought she looked almost like she was thinking with a human intelligence. “Hello, Nymeria. It’s nice to meet you. Are you hungry?”

Her ears twitched and I felt her brush my mind with her own. So I wasn’t imagining it. The animals here did have their own gifts, and this wolf had it stronger than the other creatures I had encountered thus far. She seemed to make my measure before deciding to get up and walk over to me, sniffing at me. She came up to my shoulder which made her far larger than Tyrus, but there was still an gangly feel to her build, as though she wasn’t finished growing just yet. 

The voices behind me became more agitated and Melody again dismissed them.

“You’re not supposed to be collecting more wolves, nephew.”

I yawned again and walked over with both wolves. The other men chattered more but I stopped at the wagon. “She’s not mine. She can’t be. She belongs to the Stark girl.”

The innkeeper boggled at me, the wolves and the utterly calm horses. Yes, it was odd, but I was here. I wasn’t even doing anything. It was a passive effect of my magic. “That’s the wolf what bit King Jeoffrey.”

I nodded. “She’s been roaming around out there, waiting for her girl to come back. Don’t worry, she’s coming with us.”

Alessandro raised a brow. “She is?”

I met his gaze. I would not leave her out here to be hunted down by some idiot wanting to brag about how he took her down. “She is. It’s best for everyone. The locals won’t be scared by her presence and she won’t be alone. Maybe we’ll get lucky and we can get her with the Starks.” It could happen.

He sighed, resigned. “All right. Why not? We already have you and they don’t come much stranger.”

Bethany paid the innkeeper and his family fo rate lodgings and the food. They gave us some things for the road, sausages baked into fresh bread rolls and the rest of the berry tarts. I think she slipped them a little extra to make up for the scare Nymeria gave them with her appearance. Bren didn’t mind. He was happy to help me put the saddles on all the horses that weren’t on wagon duty and even got a couple of extra bones for the wolves. He stared at Nymeria with something akin to worship.

The innkeeper eventually came to fetch him, telling him to stop bothering me. The boy scurried back to the inn with a few more coppers for his pocket and the innkeeper looked to Nymeria, to Tyrus and then to me. He frowned, looking uncertain as he watched me mount up. “Are ye sure you’re not a Stark, ser?”

I don’t know why I did it. Maybe I hadn’t fully woken up. Maybe I was on a magic high from Nymeria. Maybe it was because I was in a strange land that didn’t have any fucking coffee after I’d slept on the ground all night. 

I leaned over in my saddle, held my thumb and forefinger just an inch apart, gave the innkeeper a conspiratorial smile and whispered, “Only a little.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Anything interesting?”

The maximum range between the rig on the Shredders’ harness to the receiver Mark had shimmied up the tree to set up was a twenty mile radius and he could cover over two hundred miles in a day. We needed a day to let the horses rest, rest ourselves and to do some washing. Terri, Mel and Kea (of all people) were seeing to the laundry while I handled surveillance. Shredder in the air and Tyrus and Nymeria on the ground. 

“There’s a camp to the east of us.” I told the tablet in my hands to send feed to the others. The small receiver that acted like a local WiFi hub was fast. It was one of Bern’s designs. Dad had contracted him to come up with it for times when his people had to go into isolated areas so they didn’t have to go without tech gear. Bethany picked up hers and ran back the footage to see. 

“Northmen.”

“How can you tell?”

“The banners. These are northern houses. Right off I can see Mormont, Umber, Karstark and Stark. There are others as well but the angle isn’t great.”

Alessandro peered over her shoulder, but he was speaking to me. “Any sign of an opposing force?” 

“Not that we’ve come across, yet.”

“Keep looking. I’d rather not get caught in the middle.”

I nodded and willed Shredder to go further. 

“You know,” Mel said to Terri in a bright voice as she pulled at the waist band of a pair of my boxers, “I’m not even this prissy.”

“Bite me, cupcake.”

She laughed and went back to rinsing them out. I had that job last time and I knew for a fact that all her underwear matched. And had lace.

“Behave you two.”

“I’m perfectly behaved. She’s a brat.”

Alessandro exchanged a look with Bethany who just shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”

“Hey!”

We’d been out here for a bit over five weeks now. Once a week Bethany would open a small portal, just clear enough to send an update through and receive any updates back. Dad and his team hadn’t had any better luck and so far they had no indication that Crawford had doubled back to our side of the portal either. House Swift had been able to bring their established teams up to date with what was going on since our departure, so they were also helping in the search. The team stationed out of Lannisport had the area south of us and the team in Bravos had the area north of Dad. The check ins also allowed for some small amount of supplies to come through. Not clean laundry, unfortunately, but they did keep us in money, emergency rations, basic hygiene supplies and helped to keep our first aid supplies topped off. It also allows for us to send back any waste that would not break down on its own so we didn’t leave anything behind.

Things had changed since our arrival. Thanks to the trips to the inns, we’d learned that Jeoffrey had executed Eddard Stark. The North had declared its independence and had named my cousin, Robb Stark, the King in the North. Rumors were split about the Stark daughters. The Lannisters claimed to have both, but the only one anyone ever saw was Sansa, the eldest. Nymeria’s girl, Arya, had not been seen since her father’s capture. Some believed she was dead. Some said she was so wild and feral that she was locked in a cell. Others said she had escaped. 

I was pretty sure she wasn’t dead. Something told me that Nymeria would know it if she were. And... there was something odd about her during the night. Sometimes when I tried to reach out to her after dark, it felt like there was someone already there, like trying to connect with an animal’s mind when another Theriomancer was already present. I was sure I could force the other mind out, but instinct to me not to. It had to Arya, which meant she was still there. No wonder the wolf hadn’t been able to move on after losing her.

On the screen, Shredder crested another hill. “Awwww, fuck.”

My uncle looked up. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Found them. Another camp. South by southwest.” 

Bethany took up the tablet again and checked. “Gold lion on a red field. Lannister.”

“That settles it, then.” He took up another tablet and made his calculations. “The Stark camp is about twelve miles to the east. The Lannister camp is.... a little over fifteen miles to the southwest. Both are still set up at this time so they are unlikely to move today. Should allow us to break camp and head out at first light. I vote north. Get out from between them.”

It would be for the best. I asked Shredder to turn that way to make sure the route was clear. He turned, but the feed distorted for a moment. I know it was fully charged before I sent him out.

“You could use this chance to send Nymeria towards the Stark camp.”

I looked up at Alessandro. It was a possibility, and I did think about it. After a moment I shook my head. “I’m not comfortable with that. I know Arya has some theriomancy, her magic footprints are all over Nymeria’s mind, but I don’t know how much if any the other Starks have. Or if any actual Starks are in that camp versus just some of their soldiers in their name. I could be sending her in to be slaughtered.”

“Do you plan to walk her up to House Stark and hand her over personally?”

I grimaced. “Not unless I need to. I... just want more time to see if I can get a feel of them before I hand her over. With any luck, I can learn more about this ‘Young Wolf’ to get a better feel of him.”

He sighed. “You’re out getting attached to her, are you?”

I looked back down at the tablet. “I can’t. Not really. I told you, she’s already bonded to Arya.” The screen glitched again. I looked up above us and watched the tops of the trees swaying in the breeze. “I think the top wind is fucking up the receiver. I’m going to go check on it.”

Mark looked up from where he was using a filter pump to clean out drinking water. “You want me to do it?”

I got up. “No, I got this. How far in did you put it?”

“About two miles that way.” He pointed to the direction behind me. “The tracker is in the tech pouch. Should lead you right to it.”

I nodded, grabbed the tech pouch, slipped my tablet in there for safe keeping and grabbed a climbing kit. Nothing fancy. Just some spikes to go over my boots, some gloves and a strap that would go around me and the tree to help both with the climbing and help keep me from falling.

I jogged in the right direction, the small tracker in my hand with its LED screen guiding the way. A mile on flat pavement took about fifteen minutes by walking speed. In the woods with underbrush and tree roots, it took a bit longer. Eventually I got to where the little tracker said I was at the spot and I looked up into the branches of a tall tree. And up. And up. And up some more.

It was official. Mark was really a monkey.

I set the pouch across my body to free up my hands, slipped the spikes onto my boots and secured the strap. The limbs were far enough apart lower down that it would be a hassle to undo and replace from time to time, but it would be annoying further up. Still, if Mark could climb up to the nose bleed section to set the receiver, I could get up there to fix whatever was causing it to glitch out. Given the sway in the tops, I was guessing something got worked loose.

For those who may wonder, climbing is hard work. Even in the cool air of the Riverlands I soon worked up a sweat. And I decided not looking down was a good strategy. It wasn’t at the very top, the tapered end of the tree wouldn’t support a grown man’s weight, but this particular tree was massive. Once i reached the receiver I settled the strap low on my hips to support me while I checked it over. Sure enough, two of the connections had come loose and were just barely plugged in. I pulled them out, made sure no debris had gotten in there and set them back in place. Swinging my pouch around, I pulled the tablet halfway out, thumbed it on, and checked to make sure the feed was okay. Shredder was now flying over what looked like relatively clear sailing with very little.. oh shit.

There was a force of men in Lannister colors far closer than was comfortable, what looked like a knight in fancy armor leading them. What had me concerned, though, was the smaller force of men coming through the woods towards them, a massive wolf running by their side.

They might miss our small camp all together, or they might converge atop it.

I pulled up the video chat program and ‘called’ Alessandro’s tablet. His face came onto the screen. “Did you find it?”

“There are two smaller groups dangerously close to your location. I’d say less than three miles. Lannister and what I’m guessing is a Stark group given the massive wolf that’s with them.”

He cursed in Italian and called out for the rest of the camp to get ready. They would collapse the tents, already inset in shallow scrapes, and throw leaves and twigs over them before pulling the horses into cover where they could find it. It was more to hide the tech than anything else, and more because we’d rather not have the routers, receivers and other gear damaged.

“Keep somewhere safe if you can’t get back here.” And he closed the connection.

I secured the tablet and climbed back down. Down was faster, but I still needed to be careful and not fall. By the time I got to the ground my arms and shoulders were screaming in anger and my hair was stuck uncomfortably to my forehead. I should have pulled it back before climbing up. I pulled off the spikes and put the climbing gear into outer pocket of the pouch for safe keeping before sending my magic out to search for any other surprises.

There was a den of what I think were the Westeros equivalent of foxes huddled down for a nap to the west of me. The trees contained various birds and rodents. I brushed Tyrus’ mind about a mile northwest of me, then Nymeria who was by his side with her usual ‘I know you and I trust you but you are not my human’ response. There was something else there, something that had their attention. I quested further and my mental ‘fingers’ were noticed and met by another mind. A wolf mind, more like Nymeria’s than Tyrus. How many of them were there? I had identified three packs of ‘regular’ wolves in the area so far, so I knew they had the same basic structure as the wolves back home. I was pretty sure that this was another dire wolf like Nymeria, it felt like that, and maybe they had a different social structure, but how many giant, fuck off wolves could there possibly be in the same area? I was fairly certain they weren’t native to the region.

As I had noticed the native fauna did, it reached out to me in answer only this time it felt like something warm and inviting enveloping me. It was curious, like a pair of eyes peering right into my soul.

_Mine_

The word was deep and rattled through my bones. I wanted to curl up in that mind and felt myself just about to slip into complacency before I snapped out of it. I went to pull back and the presence gripped tighter. That wasn’t normal. I ‘wriggled’ and communicated the need to seek elsewhere. The other mind was reluctant, but it did let me go. I felt cold without it, a momentary loss thrumming through me before I shook it off and resumed my work.

I reached further, brushing past our own horses being moved to a thicker area of vegetation by a rocky out cropping where they would be out of the most favorable path for riders and further on to where the other mounts were moving. I touched their minds and they responded to me. Comparing where I was and what the video feed had told me, I could tell that the Lannister force was moving on a trajectory that would bring them close enough to our camp site that they might find us. We did not want to get caught by either side if it could be avoided. We were not locals to the area and soldiers could be less than understanding. The last thing we needed was to be mistaken for spies or enemy troops. Not that we couldn’t fight our way out, but our way of fighting would draw more attention than we wanted. Discretion was the game plan.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t spook the hell out of people and hopefully make them retreat.

I told their horses to stop.

That was it. I had them all turn back the way they came from and stop. To stand completely still.

If a rider tried to exert pressure to the point of cruelty, I had that horse throw off its rider, stomp at them without actually stepping on them a bit, then turn back to face that direction and be still.

It was harder than it sounds. There were at least ten horses and they were far from me. These were animals that I didn’t know, and even with their unusually magic susceptible minds, this would be a lot easier if I could draw a circle. But I was standing on a forest floor littered with debris from fallen branches and leaves. I didn’t have time to clear out a space and scratch out a circle, which would give me additional power and make the load easier to bear. I had to do this cold with just what I had with me, and the headache was already starting.

I could sense from the horses that the men weren’t getting it. So I had them take five steps in the direction they were pointed and stop again.

When they still didn’t seem to be getting a clue, I had the horses all prance in a circle, the stop again.

Yes, I was trolling them. But I had a good reason. Hear me out.

We’d been in this region for weeks and in our intelligence gathering we’d heard how the two different sides behaved. 

The Stark army, though they were still and army and thus they left some damage wherever they went, at least behaved with some decency. They did not slaughter indiscriminately. They did not drag people from their homes to never be seen again. They did their best to avoid fields and thus tried not to trample on the livelihoods of the people who lived here.

The Lannister side pretty much did the exact opposite of all that. They were assholes. I don’t like assholes unless they’re related to me and were only behaving that way for a very good reason. There is no good reason to wreck civilians if it could be avoided, and in most cases I’d seen so far, it most certainly could be.

Add to that the rumors of rape and one strange rumor that drifted out from the crown lands that Lannister men were hunting down and killing any child rumored to be Robert Baratheon’s bastard, and I would shed no tears if the Lannister army was destroyed.

So while I was trying to get them away from our camp site, I was going to fuck with them. Though I couldn’t keep this up for long. The strain was already starting to pull at me.

This would really be better with a circle for support.

Unlike with Tyrus, I had some sense of what the horses were seeing. I could almost hear the excited voices of the foot soldiers and they became more and more agitated. I could hear someone speaking with authority telling them to stand their ground. I knew when the ones on foot broke and started running away and hear the ‘leader’ shouting at them to stop.

I would have laughed it the headache hadn’t started up. 

I did another five step forward, this time I told them to put a little jazz into it. Or the horse equivalent of such. One of of the remaining riders fell off. Or jumped off. Could have been either.

Eventually, however, my cockiness got the better of me as I became aware that the other group had found my playmates. 

The other horses came out of seemingly nowhere. Out of instinct I reached out to calm them as well. The pain in my head grew sharper and little dots started to float in my vision. Not good. That was a sign that I was overextended myself and that I needed to wrap this up before I passed out. I made a last sweep to gather up all the hoses’ minds and brushed across the remaining wolf I had forgotten about until just then. Right. Stark had his own massive, fuck off wolf.

This one, male like whichever one was with Tyrus and Nymeria, wasn’t as welcoming as everything else in play. He was quite the opposite because as I brushed his mind it felt as though the wolf gabbed mine and began to shake it like a rabbit it had caught. I was aware that I was screaming but just barely as I lost my hold on the horses. The wolf’s mind gripped me with psychic jaws before spitting me out.

I collapsed onto the forest floor and tried to come to terms with the fact that I had just been bitch slapped by a dire wolf. I’d never had an animal react so negatively to me before. My head was throbbing and there was something wet on my lip. I licked it out of reflex and tasted blood. My nose was bleeding. Perfect.

I needed to get to safety. I went to try and push myself up but my limbs seemed to have been filled with lead and the joints had gone to jelly. That’s what getting cocky would do for you. 

The blood was pounding in my ears, but I still heard something running through the underbrush before familiar minds touched my own. I blinked through spotty vision and found myself staring into nothing but white save two red eyes.

And I fell into them. A rough, wet tongue began bathed my face and I pressed closer. Once my breathing had calmed down, the warm, furry body moved to my side and I saw Tyrus and Nymeria. He crouched down beside me and I heard that deep voice in my head again.

Carry you.

It was tricky. My limbs were still heavy and didn’t want to cooperate, but I eventually pulled myself onto the broad, furry back. I was breathing hard again and rested my head into the fur, inhaling the musky scent of wolf and woods. My eyes landed on the tech pouch and I think I mumbled something about it, only to see Nymeria pick up it’s strap in her jaws. 

_Camp. Need to get to camp._

The body beneath me rose up and I closed my eyes, surrendering myself to the darkness.

~***~

In magic there are active and passive talents.

Active talents require you to actually think about using them, unless you’re like Aunt Catalina which is a different matter all together. It’s me lighting a fire or Dad collapsing a building. It’s Mom locking someone into place with her magic and forcing them to answer her questions truthfully and honestly. 

Passive talents usually go unnoticed by most but can build up to be taxing to the mage. For example, a group of four people in the desert includes one aquakentic. He will tire out before everyone else because his magic is constantly searching for water and not finding it. Mom or Kealoha walk into a party and the stream of little white lies people tell to one another will be a constant irritation on their minds. For bios mages, any mage type that deals with biological organisms, it’s our magic reaching out to what is aligned with our power. An herbamagos who has an affinity for flowers may have anything with a blossom erupt into full bloom and have an unusually high fragrance when they walk by. An animal mage like me might wake up to find a horde of squirrels at their window chittering at them. 

With time and practice we can discipline our magic and stop most such effects if we don’t want them. Not all of us, Mom is pretty much dealing with her truth seeking passive field effect all the time, but a lot of us do. It took me years, but I eventually stopped attracting everything cute and furry without meaning to whenever I stepped outside. 

And I’ve had quite enough of the Snow White jokes, thank you.

It had been years since I had a slip, but it seemed that if I pushed myself to the point of utter exhaustion I could still make a mess of things.

At home it was no big deal. See the afore mentioned horde of squirrels. In Planetoss, things were... different. I still didn’t understand just how the animals were so much more receptive to my magic or why I could see their their eyes when I couldn’t do that back home, but while I was unconscious I certainly got a better feel for it.

At times I was small with agile paws that could help me scurry up the rough bark of trees.

At other times I was fleet on four feet that skimmed through the grasses and brush, my nose alight with scents and I hunted pretty to fill my belly.

But by far my favorites were when I was flying. It was a feeling of ultimate freedom, there above the tops of trees and away from the harsh scents of humans and their fires. The feel of the wind against my feathers as I caught the currents and let them push me higher or lower. Sometimes they were warm air currents from the South, sometimes cold air from the North. My wings sliced through them when I wanted to dive or neatly captured them to float.

I was riding one of the currents high when I saw the structure beneath me. Another human structure though this one was larger than most. The stone in places looked as though it had been melted by fire, though fire did not burn that hotly save for the fire that burned in the hearts of some mountains. It was the odd brush of magic that caught my attention, however. Not the wild current of spontaneous magic that could sometimes happen. This was structured and formal.

Curious.

I tilted my wings and body to soar down from the sky to circle around the towers, testing here and there until the buzz of magic against my mind told me to land in a window high above the ground. There I found a room, sparsely furnished with two people inside. One was a man in rumpled clothing sprawled in a chair and snoring. The other was a woman pacing in a circle with her body language angry and tight.

My vision wasn’t the same in this form, but it was clear and sharp. I could see the lines on the floor and smell the chalk used to draw them. An elaborate pair of circles, one larger than the other, and connected together. It was a variation of Accumens Exemplar, one that was not meant to pry information from a subject as was its usual purpose, but one meant to contain. The smaller circle contained the chair and the snoring man. He was likely a mage of some type. That circle fed on his magic, and he didn’t have to be awake for it to work. It used his magic to power the larger circle containing the woman so she couldn’t leave.

So Siobhan couldn’t leave.

So _that_ was how they were containing her! Crawford must have more people here than just him and Dustin. 

I hopped down from the window and hopped closer to the circles, doing my best to decipher the glyphs and sigils with my bird eyes.

_”What the fuck?”_

Not now, sis. I’m thinking.

Not that she could understand bird. I wasn’t even entirely sure what bird I was at the moment. I’d been hopping between so many animals I’d lost track.

The circle work was quite impressive. The way they had it drawn, they didn’t even need a higher tier mage to power it. They could use an Average level talent and it would work just fine, even against a power house like Shevy. Unlike the containment circle, the power circle could be entered and exited easily, so they could rotate mages out when they... well... needed to change the batteries for lack of a better description. 

They’d been holding her there for a while. She’d been given a cot to rest on and a chamber pot with a privacy screen, but that was all. They would have to gain access to get food and water to her as well as empty the chamber pot, but if they took the right precautions it could be managed. 

I might have underestimated Patrick’s intelligence, though this whole plan was still idiotic.

Also concerning was that I passed over Lannister banners outside. Were they working with them? That wasn’t good. Not good at all.

I hopped around the circle some more, occasionally pressing my beak or wings to it. No give. 

_”Did you eat some bad seed, bird?”_

Very funny.

There was a bowl of chalk on the floor a few feet from where the ‘battery’ was snoring. I hopped over there and plucked up a piece in my beak. The taste was musty and bland, but I needed it.

If I were something like a ferret or an otter, I’d have more dexterous appendages to work with. As it I was, I’d have to make due. I wouldn’t be able to do anything elaborate, but I didn’t need to.

 _”Oh shirt!”_. Her voice was an excited whisper. Shevy crouched down inside the circle, watching me and trying not to wake her guard. _”You’re a mage. Jae? Is that you?”_

Hush! I’m thinking here!

Okay, I wouldn’t be able to make any changes that would break her containment, not enough for her. But I could make myself a small hole. A path through the containment. Not a very big one, but big enough to slip her something. Bird eyes couldn’t make out what would be the shaped magic over the chalk lines, but I could feel it. Hopping around I found a possible chink in the overall set up. Tilting my head to one side, I made a tiny mark in the lines. Just barely a quarter of an inch in length. Then another. A third made a small, simple dent at one spot. Hopping over two more inches, I copied the marks on the other side.

There was a slight twinge in the magic just outside the tip of my beak. I pushed and tested it. A space. Not much of one. Maybe just shy of an inch tall and the full two inches across. It would be enough.

I set the talk down just before the space and gave it a nudge with my beak. The containment circle was at least four inches wide and it stopped moving about halfway across. Damn. Lowering down I flapped my wings at it as hard as I could manage, trying to stir up wind. The chalk rocked, the edged just a bit more way from me.

Shevy’s fingers found the gap from the other side and she managed to catch it with the tips of her nails. Patiently, she coaxed the chalk into her prison.

My sister’s teeth bared in a smile.

Mom liked to say that Dad reminded her of a dragon. She said the same about Nana Rosa. I have to admit, it was a good way to describe the Rogan telekinetics. They were really scary when they wanted to be.

That smile promised troubled.

~***~

“Shevy!”

I jerked away, which sent my head pounding again. My eyes cracked open with also proved to be a bad idea because the light hurt my eyes. I shut them again and groaned. _”Fuck me sideways.”_

”You feel that good, huh?”. Alessandro was in far too good a mood for the amount of pain I was in.

“What is he saying?”

A woman’s voice. Tense. No idea who she was.

“He was saying inappropriate things to indicate that his head is paining him. Jae, this is Lady Catelyn Stark. She is King Robb’s mother.”

Shit. Translation; watch what you say.

I moaned again, hands covering my eyes and I tried to gather my thoughts. “Why are we talking to a king’s mother?”

“Because you were carried into his camp by a massive dire wolf.”

Nymeria? No, I definitely saw Nymeria and not from her back. There was someone else there. “White fur. Red eyes. Albino?”

“That would be the one.”

“Ghost.” That was his name. Did I ask the wolf for his name? I don’t think so.

“So we were told. I seem to remember pointing out that we weren’t here for you to collect more wolves.” He was trying to keep his tone light, but I knew him well enough to know he was tense.

I went to lift my head up, but it hurt again and I set it back down. “I’m pretty sure it was the other way around.”

There was a sound of someone shifting. “I will tell my son he is awake.” A moment later there was the rustling sound of cloth.

_“She’s gone. What do you mean it was the other way around?”_

_“I mean the wolf collected me.”_

_“What the fuck happened?”_

What did happen? There were horses. There were Nymeria, Tyrus and who I knew now was ghost. There was the other wolf....

_“I’m pretty sure I got my mental ass kicked by Robb Stark’s wolf. I was trying to encourage all the animals to head back where they came from, but when I tried to link to the wolf he took offense.”_

Alessandro helped me sit up a bit. _“Here.”_ He pressed something against my mouth and I opened up to take it. A pill. I chased it down with water from the cup he held up next. _“I know you said the animals here are different, but they can do that?”_

_“He did. Never had an animal straight up reject me before. I suspect it he would prove to be bonded to Robb Stark the way Nymeria is bonded to Arya.”_

_“She has never fought you.”_

_“I’ve never tried to boss her around. I ask and she agrees because she misses her bond mate and is lonely.”_

He helped me back down. 

_“What happened?”_

_“They never made it to the camp. I kept trying to raise you on the tablet but you didn’t respond. We went to the receiver location and you weren’t there. I kept trying periodically and eventually I made a connection. Only it wasn’t you on the other end.”_

_“Who was it?”_

_“Robb Stark.”_ His voice was dark. _“They’d found the tablet and kept fooling around with it until it turned on. They were still playing around with it when I made the call and had figured out enough to know that pressing on the applications would do something.”_

_“That can’t be good.”_

_“No, because they found the video files from when your mother and her guards were in that lab. Why did you bring those?”_

I sighed. _“In case something like this happened, actually. In hind sight, I may have been a bit stupid.”_

_“Just a bit. He did agree to let me into the camp. I’m here with Kea. Stephen is here as well, but he’s hiding as a random soldier. We haven’t mentioned the others and he hasn’t asked.”_

_“What have you told him?”_

_“Nothing. We’ve only been here a few hours. He has been holed up with his bannermen, likely trying to decide what to do about us.”_

I did not like the sound of this.

The flap of the tent opened and a slender woman with dark hair entered, a surly looking man who screamed ‘guard’ behind her. Her smile was kind. “You’re awake. I was beginning to worry.”

“How long have I been out?”

“More than a day.” She moved to the side of the pallet I’d been given, Alessandro scooting aside to make room.

“Jae, this is Talisa Stark, Robb Stark’s wife.”

She smiled in answer and felt of my brow. “I’m also a healer for this camp. You had no injuries, but you would not rouse. I felt no swelling on your head, so I suspect you were exhausted. How do you feel?”

Her guard scowled. “The king wants to see him.”

“My husband will wait until I am satisfied.” She didn’t raise her voice, but her tone brooked no argument. A deep growl came from outside the tent, rolling through and sending chills up my spine. A large lupine head pushed it’s way through, white fur surrounding red eyes. From the size of it I doubted the rest of him could fit. “Or perhaps you would like to take it up with him?” 

The guard shut up.

“Ghost.” How did I know that?

Talisa arched a brow at me. “You have been unconscious since you’re arrival. How do you know his name?”

Ghost’s eyes held mine as he lowered himself down to lay in the opening of the tent, his massive head on his just as massive paws. “He told me.”

There was nothing for a while, the tent so quiet I could almost hear the wolf’s breathing. “Interesting. And Nymeria?”

I pulled myself away from Ghost’s eyes and looked at her. “Found her in the woods by an inn. She made people nervous, so I said we’d take with us until we could get her back where she belongs.”

“Truly? My husband will be pleased to hear that. How is your head?”

“Aching, but better.”

“Very good. Then I suppose it is time for you to me His Grace. He has been most curious about you. You must need to relieve yourself. The guard will escort you to the tree line so you can see to your comfort, then bring you to his tent. He is there with some of his banner men awaiting your arrival.”

I exchanged a look with Alessandro. He didn’t look any more sanguine about this than I. 

She left me to get up and I realized someone had undressed me when I arrived, likely to check me over for wounds or injuries. I wonder what they should of my modern era small clothes and the protective vest. They’d left both here, draped over a chair, so they hadn’t gone poking around on it.

I pulled it on as quickly and efficiently as I could and slipped into English. The guard left to watch us glowered but said nothing. _Can you think of a way to avoid this without causing chaos?”_

_”No. Stephen could cloak us and smuggle us out, but they wouldn’t like it and come looking for us. Best to get it over with and try to be charming.”_

_”Charming is your department._ ”

_”Yes, but I’m not the one they’re interested in.”_

_”Shouldn’t they be interested in all of us?”_

_”You’re forgetting the videos. Gossip spreads like wildfire in a camp like this. I’ve only been here a few hours, and I’ve already heard muttering about you and how much you look like a Stark.”_

I sighed as I laced up the trousers. _”Nothing for it, then. Let’s go say hello to my cousin.”_


	5. Chapter 5

I’d heard a bit about him the times we stayed at the occasional inn. More than once I’d been mistaken for him because I had the look of a Stark and wolves at my side, one of them a dire wolf. I always corrected the mistake but I don’t think I was always believed. They likely thought I was trying to be secretive or was on reconnaissance. 

Other than the wolf thing, I did not see why anyone would mistake me for Robb Stark

My cousin was of a similar build as I. I was about a quarter inch shy of six feet but our family physician said that at nineteen she thought I could still gain an inch or so, and I was lean muscle that bulked up well but not excessively so. Dad said I was like Alessandro; built like a gymnast, muscular but easily disguised with the right clothes. Robb Stark was much like that. You’d never mistake him for a weak man and he looked like he knew how to use the sword leaning against the table next to him. His auburn hair was a shade or two darker than Dallas’ and seeing it gave me a pang of home sickness. His eyes were clear blue and they held mine with no sign of unease.

His tent was much larger than any of the others. I suppose it had to be to allow for his bannermen when they met. The wolves didn’t help. His wolf, Grey Wind from what I’d heard said here and there, sat on his haunches and watched me with imperious eyes. Not hostile, but he clearly hadn’t forgiven my... rudeness from before. Nymeria lay next to her litter mate, more content than I’d seen her since our meeting though her tail wagged a few times when she felt me. Add Ghost and Tyrus to the mix and there were half as many wolves as there were people there. Only myself, my cousin, his wife and my uncle seemed to find nothing wrong with that. The other four people in the room looked less than pleased.

“I’d wondered if I would get to meet you. You’ve been stirring up quite a bit of confusion for Tywin’s people.”

I had? “I wasn’t aware that I’d been given much notice.”

His lips twitched in amusement. “You have been. So much conflicting information. Some say I have red hair, some say black. Some say I travel with my armies others say I move on my own with only a handful of people by my side. Some way I have one wolf, others say two.” He looked at Ghost standing by my side, then at Tyrus one the other. Tyrus was half the size of ghost and his mostly black fur with a few places tipped in tawny gold made him a sharp contract to the dire wolf. “Where did you find Nymeria?”

“In the woods outside an inn. I’d heard the evening before about how she’d bitten Jeoffrey Baratheon and disappeared before Queen Cersei could order your father to kill her for it. I suspect your sister ran her off to protect her. I was concerned someone might get the courage to hunter her down if left there.”

“Thank you for returning her. Though it seems it is more of an exchange.” 

My hand went reflexively to Ghost’s neck, fingers resting in the fur. “Yeah.... I’m still trying to determine what’s happening there myself. I don’t think he’s giving me much say in the matter.”

“No, it doesn’t appear that he is.” 

He reached to the table beside him and plucked up the thing tablet. “I am afraid we have broken your device. It stopped working, but for a while there it showed us some curious things. We saw our camp and that of the Lannisters, as well as our move against Ser Jaime. Have you been spying on us?”

“No. Well, not for any intention against you. We simply wished to avoid being caught in the middle of two armies. Knowing where you were told us where not to be.”

He mulled that over then nodded. “I can understand that. It showed us other things.” He nodded to a large man, as large as Dad, and a woman wearing armor. “Lord Greatjohn Umber and Lady Mormont have both known my family for some time. They knew my father and his siblings when they were younger. They say that the woman in some of the images was my Aunt Lyanna, my father’s sister.”

I was afraid of that. I swallowed and gave a nod, not really knowing what to say.

He looked at the blank device, turning it over in his sword calloused hands. “It’s curious. She does call herself the ‘Shewolf of Winterfell’, but when she gives her name, she doesn’t give the name of Stark.” He looked back up at me, waiting.

“I am aware of the footage.”

“Footage.” He tasted the word on his tongue, leaning it. “If she is speaking the truth in this... footage... and she had not gone mad, then it would seem to indicate that the war the North fought all those years ago was false.”

The aforementioned Lord Umber shifted in his furs and armor. He looked all together irritable.

“I do not feel qualified to comment on that. I was not raised here. I do not know your history well enough to speak on it.”

Umber growled. “What of the creature?! The thing that claimed it was Arthur Dayne! Can you speak on that?!”

“Lord Umber.” Robb said nothing more. Umber was old enough to be his father, if not older, but he listened. He respected his young king. Once the man had resettled, my cousin looked back at me and silently urged me to answer.

I looked at the other people in the room and noted the man in a black robe with a chain adorning him. “That man, you call him a ‘maester’, correct? He is a scholar?” Robb gave a single nod so I turned to address the maester. “You study cures and potions. Do you also perform experiments? Test new possible cures on animals or people?”

He nodded. “Yes. That is the only way to know if a new cure will work.”

I turned back to Robb. “That was what was done to the man named Arthur Dayne. He and the others were taken from here by people who needed someone to experiment on. It wasn’t right. It’s very much illegal in our land and punishable by death. They thought if they took people from somewhere else, people no one in our lands would miss or even knew existed, they could do so and go unnoticed. It was their experimentation that warped and deformed him, and eventually killed him.”

Talisa covered her gasp with one hand, her expression one of horror. 

“And my aunt. Did they do this to Lyanna Stark?”

There was no avoiding it. “Yes.”

Umber and Mormont both growled. It was remarkably like any wolf I’d ever known. Well, Lady Mormont sounded more like a bear, actually.

“I see.” Robb thought for a moment, then tilted his head. “Why? What was it they were trying to cure?”

That was a very good question. There really was only one answer. “Normalcy.”

“Jae...”. My uncle’s voice was a warning.

“I won’t lie to him.” I looked from Robb to Grey Wind and back to Robb. My reached for them with my mind, getting the _feel_ of them. Grey Wind’s body language shifted just a tad, warning but not attacking. “He’s like me.”

Alessandro was quiet for a moment. “You are sure?”

I nodded. “Average, or maybe notable. Without training it’s hard to tell.”

Robb leaned forward. “Care to be a little less cryptic?”

I squared my shoulders. “When you sleep at night, when you dream, you dream that you are a wolf.” It was a guess, but a good one.

He hesitated, then nodded in affirmation.

“You dream you are a wolf because when you are sleeping, you are one.” I nodded to Grey Wind. “When you are asleep, you escape the demands of a man and become one with your wolf.”

Umber rose to his feet. “Are you saying the King in the North is a ward?!”

He sounded almost insulted by the idea. “I... do not know that word.”

Robb sat back in his chair. “A warg is someone who can send his mind into that of an animal. They even say that when they die, a warg can do so and live a second life that way.”

Okay, that’s a bit creepy. “Then, yes, although we call is theriomancy, or the ability to use magic over animals.”

His mother inhaled a sharp breath, her expression turning angry, but he held up a hand to stop her from speaking. “Why do you think this?”

“Because when I can see the footprints of your sister’s mind in Nymeria when I reach out to her. Because when I tried to reach out to Grey Wind and convince him to turn away and go elsewhere, he took rather strong offense to it, since I wasn’t you.” I shrugged. “I have never had an animal react so negatively to me before, certainly not the point that they put me down in such a way. And even now I can feel the bond between you both. You are his as much as he is yours.”

“Robb, this is insanity.” He motioned for her to be silent again.

Robb’s eyes studied me, measuring me. A small smile touched his lips. “The horses. You are what happened to them. You made Lannisters’ horses start prancing around.”

I winced and rubbed at my head. “Yeah, I was trying to scare them. Thought if I could get the hoses to act up they might think the woods were haunted or something and go back to their camp. With the two of you coming at one another like that, I was afraid you’d come across our own camp. I was trying to get you to go away.”

They all started at me with various expressions of disbelief or bemusement. The spell was broken by Lady Mormont’s laughter as she nearly fell from her seat. 

“I wish I could have seen that! “ She doubled over. “That golden cunt trying to keep his seat while his horse pranced around like it was in a tourney parade!” 

Umber caught on to the joke and joined her.

Robb managed not to laugh, but he couldn’t keep the grin from his face. “Very well, let us say that I am a warg, though I don’t think I’ve ever been able to manage a horse quite as well as you seem to. What does it have to do with my father’s sister?”

So I told him. I told him how our scientists were trying to stop a plague that was killing millions and stumbled upon the Osiris Serum. How ordinary people gained god like powers practically overnight. About the high risk of death or deformation that people were eager to take for the promise of potential power and how they soon learned that power does indeed corrupt. How it was locked away, only to find out that the future generations would inherit the powers of their parents and now some still risked everything to gain even more. 

Talisa’s hand rested on her lower belly. “They... they gave it to her. To a woman heavy with child, even knowing what it could do to her.”

I didn’t respond. I still had trouble with that part myself.

She looked up at me. “Is that what killed her?”

“No. A lack of needed care after labor and delivery is what killed her.”

Her face went cold. “And they took her son from her even as she screamed for him.” So she had watched the videos as well.

The levity over the prancing ponies was gone now. Robb looked at me, his eyes solemn. “Jae... that isn’t your name, is it? Not your full name at any rate.” I shook my head. “You stand there, looking more like my father’s son than I ever have,” his mother gasped and called his name with a strangled voice and he ignored it. “The wolves of House Stark accept you as though you were one of their own. I would know your name. I would hear it from your own lips.”

Well, in for a penny. In for a pound.

“Jaehaerys. The woman who bore named me Jaehaerys.”

Catelyn drew in a sharp breath, her hands fisted together in her lap. Robb nodded and rose from his seat, coming to stand before me. We were about the same height, though the crown on his head made him seem taller somehow.

“Why are you here, cousin? Why have you come back now, during these times? Do you seek your crown?”

I just barely managed not to laugh at the idea. “No! That is the absolute last thing I need or want. You couldn’t pay me enough to be a king. I’m here to get my sister back.”

He clearly wasn’t expecting that. He looked as though I’d popped him in the middle of his forehead with a baseball bat. He blinked, then looked at Alessandro. “You. When we first spoke, you said you were his uncle.”

“Yes. He is. He was an infant in a strange land with no living parents. He needed a family to care for him. My wife’s sister, a ‘good sister’ I believe you call it, and her husband took him into their home. By our laws he is Jaehaerys Rogan, the youngest son of House Rogan and a very much loved member of our family.”

Robb looked back at me. “And you care enough for this family who has claimed you that you would renounce your claim to the Iron Throne? If Lyanna truly was with Rhaegar of her own will and married him, the rebellion that put Baratheon on the throne was unjust.”

“Was it? I was told that my Targaryen grandfather had my Stark grandfather roasted alive in his own armor. That sounds like a man who needed to be taken off his throne. A man who is capable of such things has no place being in a position of power.”

Mormont made an approving noise. “Seems he’s as smart as he is pretty.”

“And you think your sister is here?”

“Possibly. Either here or in Essos. Our father is there with his own team, searching just as we are.”

Robb nodded and sighed. “That I can understand. My own sisters are still in the hands of our enemies, though we can only be sure of one of them. We can get no word of Arya.”

“She’s alive. I’m sure of it.”

He gave me a grateful smile. “I, too, and keeping my hopes up for that.”

“No, you don’t understand. Arya is alive.” I nodded towards Nymeria. “Just like your mind joins with Grey Wind’s when you fall asleep, so does hers join with Nymeria. They’re still bonded.”

I heard Lady Stark choke off a gasp. Robb gaped at me. “You’re sure.” He looked towards Nymeria who lolled her tongue out towards him, then back at me. “Can... can you use your magic to find her that way?”

Why hadn’t I thought of that? “Maybe. She’d have to let me. The animals here, they aren’t the same as what I’m used to.” I reached out to scratch Tyrus’ head. “I can’t see through Tyrus’ eyes like I can through the animals here. The beasts here, they have their own magic, something ours do not. That’s what took me by surprise when I tried to link with your wolf. He didn’t just reject me, he attacked me. That could be something just a dire wolf can do or something all animals here can do, I don’t know. I haven’t really been in a frame of mind to experiment. I do know that I cannot bond with Nymeria because she already has a bond mate. I suppose it’s possible it’s someone other than Arya, but I doubt it. The gift seems to be a trait of House Stark.”

Robb looked down at my wolf, then at the wolf at my other side. “What of Ghost? He was the runt of the litter. We thought maybe Father would keep him for his own, but he didn’t. We all looked after him because it didn’t seem right to put him down and keep the others. Can you bond with him?”

I grimaced. “He.... took care of that himself. Never had an animal do that, either.” I looked down at Ghost and I swear he looked smug about it. “Oh, get over yourself.” He wagged his tail, tongue lolling. I shook my head at him and looked back to Robb. “I can try. I’ll need to think on it. It’s not a working I’ve done before, but I may have some ideas.”

He looked hopeful, but I could see that he was tempering that hope. He didn’t want to have it crash down on him. “It would be appreciated.” He looked from me to Alessandro, stepping back a bit. “From what I have heard of you, there are more than just you three in my camp. I’m told there are at least seven or eight people in your party, including women.”

My uncle offered a nod. “I was unsure what we would be walking into and ordered them to stay back.”

“I understand that. But, please, invite them to join us.” He looked back at me, taking me in from head to toe, his smile somewhat softer. “There are so few reasons to celebrate when at war. I would share the new of lost kin found with the rest of my banner men. I extend the hospitality of House Stark and the King in the North to you and yours.”

~***~

Bethany looked less than thrilled with joining the camp. Mark and Terri took it in with the practiced alertness of trained soldiers. Mel just took everything in stride aside from looking me over to make sure I was okay. 

Stephen just seamlessly appeared. I didn’t even know what face he’d been wearing before he dropped his disguise. At times the skills of a trained illusion mage could be very disturbing. Fortunately they could change their faces but not their body chemistry, which is why we kept scent hounds in the guard booths at home. They made sure the person’s scent matched the face.

“You scared the crap out of us!” Mel hugged me fiercely before letting me go and giving me a light smack against the side of my head. “I was afraid I’d have to tell Shevy I lost you when we found her! Don’t do that me again!”

I rubbed my head and twisted a leg around to kick her in the rear. “Good to see you too, ya looney.”

She punched my shoulder in response. “Jackass.”

“Hey, not my fault! I was unconscious. I told them to take me to camp. They just decided to go to the other camp.”

“Only you could manage to get kidnapped by wolves. I should start calling you Mowgli.”

“Melody!” We looked over to where Beth was standing by the cart. “If you two are done beating each other up, get over here and help set up the tents.”

We’d gotten good at this part. Fortunate, since I could feel Robb’s men watching us and I would have hated to have made a fool of myself. We got our tents set up and secured our gear. I moved the horses to where the rest of the mounts were kept, ignoring the whispers and muttering as I simply walked that direction and the horses followed as though they were well behaved dogs. I could have had them just walk over without the escort, but they needed my hands to secure their ties. No need to be subtle now. I came clean with Robb and I’m sure gossip traveled just as quickly in a Westerosi army camp as it did with a US one.

Heaven knows Dad’s people gossiped like old church ladies if it wasn’t classified.

I grabbed up a bucket and went to get some water for the horses while they were happily munching oats. Tyrus padded alongside me as ghost had gone off to roam with his litter mates. I didn’t really want to know how much damage three dire wolves could do. 

Was Ghost going to want to go back with me when I went home? He’d bonded himself to me with no hesitation, and I knew that a summons, which technically he would be, could live on Earth. Zeus seemed quite content to be with Cornelius and was very protective of his daughter Matilda. He’d also been acting very protective since she’d gotten pregnant. They were his family and he loved them. Could Ghost be as content in Houston?

It would certainly be a lot hotter than what he was used to. I wonder if he’d shed enough of his coat to at least make it tolerable.

Coming back with the water I set it down and gave the horses some affectionate pats. I heard someone coming up behind me and turned to see Robb. “Should you be walking about without a guard?”

He nodded behind him. “They can see me. I wanted to be able to speak to you without other ears.”

A final pat to Foster, stopping to pick out a stray twig from his mane, I walked over to him. “Something the matter?”

“No, I just wanted to talk with my cousin.” He smiled. “It’s odd. I didn’t even know you existed, but there is no denying the Stark blood in you.” He looked over the camp as we strolled. “My father mourned her. Lyanna. He always mourned her loss and that he never found her. I think it was better he died without knowing what truly happened to her.”

I nodded. “They warned me I didn’t want to see the video, but I was stubborn and wanted to know where I came from. I keep thinking how afraid she had to be.”

“The ones who did it to her?”

“They got most of them, but not all. Not the ones who financed everything. Not the one who provided the transport that got them to where she was and got them all out. He’s one of the ones involved with taking my sister. The warrant for his capture is still valid. If he is taken alive, he’s not going to stay that way for long. They’ll interrogate him for information then execute him.”

“Why did he take your sister.”

I sighed. “He was paid, more than likely. He’s working with a man named Patrick Crawford. He’s the heir of a powerful telekinetic house. They are mages who can move things with their minds. He’s a prime, what we call the highest level of mages, and can do a lot of damage.”

“What does he want with her?”

“Believe it or not, marriage.” I shook my head. “You know anything about breeding horses? Making sure to breed together the ones with traits you want carried on to the foals? Well, magic houses use much the same philosophy when deciding who they marry or who their children marry. Shevy is a dual prime, she’s a powerful telekinetic and she’s a powerful truth seeker, someone who can detect lies when they are spoken in her presence. They are usually hired for gathering information or interrogations. Anyway, House Crawford approached our father about a possible betrothal between Patrick and Siobhan because two prime telekinetics are likely to make more. Only he has a horrible reputation and Dad wouldn’t let him near her with a ten foot pole. He shut down the inquiry cold. We thought that was the end of it, then he struck while she and I were on campus and away from Dad’s soldiers and took her.”

“On campus?”

“Right, you don’t really have college here. Uhm... were we come from, there are schools of higher learning. Like what your maesters have with their citadel place but these are open to anyone who wants to learn a specialized skill or school of thought. The fall semester had just started when this happened so I had to pull out to come here. We were both enrolled in classes and were on the school campus for our lessons. He grabbed her when she was going across campus to her next class.”

“Like with Raeghar taking Lyanna.”

I winced. “Not sure it’s the same. Given what we have from the information taken, it looks like she may have been there willingly. I know for sure Shevy wants nothing to do with Patrick. She can’t stand the guy. If she could, she wouldn’t have been willing to meet with Kealoha.”

He arched a brow at me. “That giant who travels with you?”

I nodded. “He’s a truth seeker, like her, so if anyone is lying around him, he’ll know. The best way to increase the odds the child will be a truth seeker is to have both parents with the same gift. It’s less likely to breed true like telekinesis. He’d been traveling to different countries and meeting with various established truth houses for a couple of years before coming to our city. He was staying in our house as a guest for a little over a week when Crawford made his move. They’d just made arrangements to have a quiet dinner together without the rest of us hanging around and teasing them for the night she was taken. I was there when she got the invite and she was eager for it. I know my sister and she’s had feelings for Kea from afar for years. She was very receptive to him. I doubt she even had room in her brain for thoughts of Patrick Crawford.”

“That’s not always a good thing. My sister Sansa was all a flutter over Jeoffrey and look what he turned out to be.”

“How old is she?”

“Almost four and ten.”

Yikes. “Shevy is twenty. And she grew up in the shark pool that is the society of the magical elite. Don’t forget, you literally cannot lie to her. That Crawford thought he could ever be happy with her as a wife is insane. He’s not the kind of man who likes to be called out on his bull shit. And you don’t get into that kind of relationship with a woman who can level a building down around your ears. While as her brother it’s a little disturbing to think of my sister being married and sharing a bed with anyone, I will admit that Kealoha is a much better match for her.”

“Will he still accept her if she’s been dishonored?”

Right. Very different cultures. “We... don’t really put much thought towards that. In virginity, that is. I mean, it’s considered a personal thing. A person’s body is their own to do with as they please. You can choose to wait until you’re married or you can choose not to. Man or woman, doesn’t matter. If he forces himself on her, the only one at fault is him. And I will gladly hold him down while she cuts off his cock for it. We don’t blame the victim for being raped. It doesn’t make her less of a person if it happens to her. The woman was wronged and if it happens to Shevy, we’ll help her get justice and we’ll help her heal. If Kea isn’t the man we think he is and can’t see past that, then he’s not the man for my sister and he can go back to his island. I don’t think Dad really wants his only daughter to move that far away anyway.”

Robb nodded, his expression hard to read. “I worry for my sisters. Westeros... isn’t kind to girls who are despoiled. Arya... well... Arya is practically feral would likely bite off a man’s cock if he brought it near her, but Sansa isn’t like that. She’s soft and gentle. She’s always believed in knights and songs. I hate that the world has shown her just how ugly it can be.”

“Yeah, and it makes you feel powerless. I’ve been thinking of all the ways I’d like to kill Crawford for this.”

“I feel the same about Jeoffrey.”

“Maybe we’ll both get lucky and get our pound of flesh.”

“May the gods grant it so.”

A boy came running in our direction. He looked far too young to be in an army camp, but apparently squires and pages could be kids not even at puberty yet. “Yer Grace! Yer Grace!” He stopped, bent over to put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. 

Robb fought a smile. He did look kind of adorable. “Take your time. When you can.”

He took a few more breaths and stood up, cheeks still flushed. “Beggin’ yer pardons, yer Grace, but the guards what are watchin’ the Kingslayer says he’s being uppity. He’s all worked up over sommat.”

“Of course he is.”

Kingslayer? “Where I have heard that name before?”

“Ser Jaime Lannister. He got the name for killing your grandfather, King Aerys.”

Oh. Right. “You’ve got him here?”

“We captured him in the Whispering Woods.” Robb’s eyes twinkled a bit. “You helped with that.”

“Ah. Well... glad to be of service.”

He chuckled. “Come on. Let’s see what the golden cunt is up in arms about. Doubtless his feather bed hasn’t yet arrived or something similar.”

We walked over to the other side of the camp where a makeshift holding area had been made. A handsome man in dirty armor was tied to a pole low enough to prevent him from being able to get to his feet. Uncomfortable for someone easily six feet tall. I doubt these conditions would adhere to the Geneva Conventions, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.

His jaw was set in a mulish expression but that shifted to one of false arrogance as we approached. He gave an almost dismissive look at Robb before turning his attention to me. “You must be the one all the Northmen are yammering about. They say you’re a Targaryen.”

Like I said; gossip travels fast in an army camp. “Only by birth.”

“Haven’t seen one of those since I ran your grandfather through.”

Trying to get a rise out of me, Okay. “From I’ve heard about the man, sounds like you did the world a favor.”

He hadn’t expected that. He arched a golden brow, which didn’t quite work on such a dirty face. The man reeked of entitled snobbishness and reminded me of some of the worst guys I went to school with. “At least some people can recognize that. There are plenty who still condemn me for it.”

Robb was growing irritated with him already. “What is it you want, Lannister.”

“I didn’t want anything from you, Stark. I said I wanted the girl back over here.”

“I’m sorry if you’re lonely, but I’m not providing you with a whore.”

“He means the pretty one what came with yer new cousin, Your Grace.”

This might be bad. “You’ll have to be more specific. It can be argued that all three of them are pretty. Do you mean the serious one, the scary one or the mouthy one?”

Jamie rattled his bonds with a snarl, arrogance forgotten. “THE ONE WITH MY MOTHER’S FACE AND MY BROTHER’S EYES!”

Yep, just as I thought. Bad. “The mouthy one.” Robb looked over at me with an unspoken question. “Melody.”

“She walked by here helpin’ one of your people carry supplies and he saw her. Got real rattled.”

I bet he did. “Well, I’ll ask her if she wants to talk to you. Not gonna make her.”

He glared at me. “I’m right, aren’t I. You know it. That girl has Lannister blood in her. Those are my brother’s eyes.”

Robb said nothing, just looked at me. “Not my place to tell. You should speak with Bethany about it. It’s her past.”

“Her, then! Bring me whatever whore Tyrion fucked a bastard into!”

“Mind your tongue, Lannister!”

I shook my head. “A word of caution; do _not_ let Mel hear you call her mother a whore. Or a bitch. Or anything else derogatory. She’d quite cheerfully kill you for that and I believe His Grace needs you alive.”

“For now, at any rate. If that is all you have to say, Lannister, I promised my banner men a proper feast so they could get to see and speak to Jaehaerys themselves. Do try to keep your wailing to a more dulcet level.”

He was still screaming as we walked away, and we ignored him. 

“Is she a Lannister bastard?”

“I really don’t feel comfortable talking about it. It’s Mrs. Pierce’s story to tell, but I don’t think she’d have agreed to bring Melody here if she’d known you had him.”

“Am I to take it they hold no loyalty to her father’s people?”

“He’s not her father. Peter Pierce is her father, just like Connor Rogan is mine. And she’ll be the first person to tell you that.”

~***~

Dad would have been shocked at the amount of alcohol these men were consuming. They were in an active camp with an enemy camp less than thirty miles away. Hangovers are not conducive to fighting. 

I was met with a mix of acceptance, suspicion and who-cares. Several of the Northmen were upset to learn that what they believed all those years ago might not have been the actual way of things, but in the end they did all believe that the murder of Rickard and Brandon Stark could not have gone unanswered. That I looked like a Stark and very little like a Targaryen seemed to soften things a bit.

Still, I stayed as long as was polite and made my way out to get some fresh air.

I was leaning against Ghost with Tyru’s head in my lap, looking up at the stars when Mel came over and sat down beside me. “Can he take two?”

“Ask him. He’s his own wolf.”

She lay back and I saw the jug of ale in her hand. 

“You okay?”

“Do I have any blood relatives who aren’t complete dicks?”

She must have spoken to her mother and Robb. “Your mom’s okay. Based on recent events some of her family may be salvageable. You seem to like your brothers well enough.”

“I have to love those little monsters.” There wasn’t any bite to her words. She did love them. Even the two that weren’t actually related to her.

“Did you go talk to him?”

“Didn’t have to. I could hear him halfway across the damn camp. Mom did. He yelled at her for not telling Tyrion he was going to be a father. Finally found out what happened, though.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, apparently Cersei hates her little brother so much that when she found out he had a girl in town, she went one of her father’s soldiers to kill her. He thought he was going to rape and murder a scullery maid at a tavern and instead found himself facing a woman trained to fight dirty. Mom killed him first. Then she decapitated the body, snuck into Casterly Rock using some secret passages Tyrion used to smuggle her in sometimes and left the head in Cersei’s bed. Then she left and went home. Figured out she was pregnant a few weeks later.”

That did not surprise me in the slightest.

“He called her ‘duplicitious whore’ and some other things.”

Oh, crap. “You didn’t summon anything to break into his cage and eat him, did you?”

“Not yet.”

“Please don’t. They need him as a bargaining chip. That’s how things like that work here.”

“Fine. I won’t.” She took a pull from the ale. “This place sucks.”

“We knew that before we came here.”

“Do you know they marry girls here after they’ve ‘flowered’? Not always, but they can as soon as that happens. A girl can start her period as early as eleven or twelve. That’s practically pedophilia!”

It was pretty sick.

“And your cousin, he had to promise his baby sister’s hand in marriage to some guy she’s never seen just to get to cross a fucking bridge! Who does that?!”

“Same thing happens at home, only not as young. Maybe not to cross a bridge, but a betrothal contract can include property, stocks, entire companies even.”

“Doesn’t make it right. When that cousin of Mom’s started talking about how their grandfather would have basically sold me off to the highest bidder if he hadn’t kicked mom out of the family, I wanted to punch him.”

“Alessandro’s family was trying to force him to marry some girl with a rich dowry. Exchange his pretty face and titles for enough money to keep their family afloat for another few decades.” And when he’d walked away from it all, the truth of just how deep in the hole the Segredos were had come out. The fall out had been glorious. “What makes it even less right is how so many of them don’t listen to their kids. They’re even willing to kick them out of the family if they don’t toe the line and do as they’re told. Not just the girls, but the guys, too. You and I are lucky to have parents who will take our feelings into consideration.”

“Yeah. Getting excised may have been the best thing to happen to Mom. Who knows who she would haven’t gotten stuck with if she’d done what they wanted her to.”

“We wouldn’t have the joy that is Melody and all her exiting temper tantrums.” I grinned. “You really spooked that asshole. Apparently you look like his mother. I think he thought he was seeing a ghost.”

“Hell, if I’d known that I would have dressed up in white and fucked with him.”

“Uuuuhhh.... you wanna rephrase that? This is the guy that supposedly screws his own twin.”

“Eeew!” She sat up and glared at me. “Jae!”

“Just saying. Don’t wanna give him ideas of trading her in for a younger model.”

She tried to splash ale over my head and I laughed as I rolled away from her.

“You are so gross sometimes.”

“Don’t try to take the high ground with me. I’ve played Black Ops with you. I’ve heard some of the shit you say.” Something brushed against my mind and I sat up. “Shredder!”

A screech preceded the dive as I pulled off my outer tunic and wrapped it around my forearm to give him a place to land. His talons found purchase on the cloth and he rustled his wings a bit.

“You’re still in your harness?” I started undoing the fastenings to pull it off of him.

“He never came back to camp. We thought he was with you.”

A brief inquiry told me that he’d lost me when I’d gone under from the altercation with Grey Wind and had been keeping to the trees until he sensed me again. He’d been waiting for me to get far enough in the open and to be comfortable with the strange people.

“It’s all right, boy. Everything is fine.” I pulled the camera harness off so he could start to preen his feathers and smooth them back out. Something about this niggled at my mind. “Mel, how long was I out?”

“Uhm.... more than a day? Maybe a day and a half?”

I did my best to get to my feet without disturbing Shredder’s grooming. “We need to talk to the others. Now.”

“Why?”

I smiled, hopeful for the first time in days. “I think I know where Shevy is.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I suspect that most people reading this are fans of Game of Thrones. For those who are but do not know the Hidden Legacy Series, I direct you to the following:
> 
> [Hidden Legacy by Ilona Andrews](https://ilona-andrews.com/hidden-legacy/)

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you haven’t had that much lack of control since you were about ten. I remember when your mother was talking to Catalina about it. She was relieved to no longer be waking up to squirrels trying to eat the back patio.”

“I’ve never been recovering from magic drain coupled with a mental attack like that before.”

Alessandro still looked less than credulous. 

“I’m not imaging it. It was her.” He wasn’t believing me. 

“Maybe it was? I mean, Jae’s always been kind of weird. And it’s not like any of us are animal mages. We don’t have any practical experience in what he can do. And it was an odd situation for him. You told Mom he looked half dead when you got here. Maybe his brain did go for a walk without him.”

“And he just happened to stumble over Siobhan.”

“I was a lot of different animals. A good portion of them birds. It was the feel of magic that caught my attention. I didn’t fly down expecting to find her. I was just trying to figure out what it was.”

My uncle still wasn’t convinced, but he he gave a nod. “All right. Let’s look at this as though it’s an established fact. What did you see?”

I drew in a breath and did my best to remember what I’d observed. “They’re holding her in a containment circle. I was a bird, so I didn’t have the full abilities or awareness, but I remember thinking it resembled Accumens Exemplar, but less on the interrogation side and concentrating on holding the target. They’d drawn it up so that a smaller circle could be used to power the larger one. I got the feeling that it could be anyone from average or higher to manage it.”

He frowned. We’d heard of such things before. He looked over at Melody. “Could you go and get your mother, please?” She nodded and hurried out of the tent. “That would explain how they’d have been holding her, and I will admit that Patrick could do it. His had a double major; one for finance and the other for magic theory. He was in the top ten percent in his class for that one, so he would have the education to create such a spell.”

I relaxed, thinking he was finally believing me.

“However,” damn, “even if he managed it, he couldn’t do it with just he and Dustin. He’d need at least five or six mages he could rotate out to keep them from being fully drained. More if they were mostly lower tier mages.”

He had a point. “He could afford it, couldn’t he? Didn’t Bug say he got his mother’s money when she died?”

“You’re talking about twenty-first century Earth people. They’re used to things like soft beds, central heat and air and whatever genre of food they want to eat within a ten minute drive. You know how irritating adapting to this place has been for you. We’re all put out about it. I’d give almost anything for a decent cup of coffee and you’ve heard Mel complaining about the lack of chocolate. It’d take more than a pay check to convince a big enough team to walk away from all that comfort and come over here to try and keep a tiger in a paper cage. They slip for an instant, she’ll strike.”

“Yeah, she will. I couldn’t do much. I was a bird. The best I could manage with just a beak was to scratch a hole in the containment band big enough to roll a piece of chalk to her.”

Alessandro straightened. “You got her chalk?”

I felt the smile stretch across my face. “I did. I didn’t dream it up. I was really there, inside that bird. I don’t know how long it will take her to figure out where to muck up their spell work, but she’ll manage it. When she does... all hell is going to break loose.”

Mel and Beth came back in. Bethany looked at me, her expression hopeful. “You think you found her?”

“Yeah, I did. Uhm.... I saw.... a castle. It was stone but... a lot of it looked melted. I don’t know how else to explain it. Not sure why you would build a castle from slagged stone.”

Comprehension dawned on her. “Harrenhall. Has to be.” 

“You know it?” Alessandro moved out of the way so Beth could dig out one of the tablets.

“Yes. They didn’t build it from melted stone. The stone was melted after they built it. Back when the Targaryens still had dragons, one of them attacked Harrenhall to force its lord to capitulate. Dragonfire was hot enough to melt stone.” She pulled up the digital map. “Here. This is Harrenhall.”

Alessandro finally looked hopeful. “So he didn’t dream it up.”

“ _Now_ you believe me?”

“A partially melted castle is a rather clear detail. The chances you’re just dreaming that up aren’t as high as they would be that you were just dreaming up your sister.”

Of course. 

Bethany set down the tablet and started calculating the distance between us and Harrenhall. “What else did you see?”

“Lannister banners. They have a force there.”

Both of them paused then looked up at me. Beth took a breath. “They were with the Lannister forces?”

“Yeah. I didn’t like that part either.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Mel claimed a chair and sat down. “If the Lannisters have mages, why aren’t they using them? Even a well trained average level talent can do a lot of damage to regular people.”

“The Westerosi don’t fully trust magic. They very much don’t trust, actually. The ones in the southern areas especially. Likely the only reason King Robb isn’t freaking out is because it’s a bigger part of the North’s history. They have tales of men being wargs, their version of animal mages. And of the Children of the Forest. They steadfastly hold on to the Old Gods rather than convert to the Seven. They’re... the pagans to the Roman Catholics.”

“And they may not be entirely forthcoming to the Lannisters as to what they can do. Not everyone is a blabbermouth like Jae here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t have told the King in the North he’s a warg.”

Really? “I would think dreaming he’s a massive dire wolf would be a dead giveaway.”

“Denial is a powerful thing.” Alessandro looked to Beth. “We should report this in. Crawford working with the Lannisters changes things. We have no way of knowing how many mages he has at his command or what they’ve had time to prepare. We need reinforcements.”

She nodded in agreement. “I can open a portal but I would recommend we travel a mile or two to do it.”

Alessandro nodded his head as he picked up a pack. “Agreed. We’ll take Stephen to help keep our privacy. Do you kids think you could avoid getting into trouble while we’re gone?”

Mel pouted. “We’re total angels.”

Beth wasn’t buying it. “No killing your uncle. He’s having a hard enough week as it is.”

“Whatever.”

“I’ll keep her entertained.”

Alessandro hugged me briefly. “Good work, Jae. Well done.”

~***~

“How long can they keep this up? Shouldn’t they be resting in case the other side attacks or something?”

She had a point. “You’d think so.”

“You know, your mother is going to be pissed when she finds out that your uncle let us stay in an army camp in the middle of a revolution.”

“Dad has his own army camp.”

“Yeah, but it’s not in the middle of a revolution. Most people who know Mad Rogan are smart enough not to start a fight with him.”

A chuff escaped me. “Apparently not Patrick Crawford.”

“Yeah, but he’s always been one of those guys who had lots of book smarts but no actual sense to go with them. I’ve met more and more of those guys since I started dating.”

“You’ve been dating?”

“O’course. But this is the kind of thing I usually talk about with your sister. Since she’s not here, you have to do her job.”

“Wait, I didn’t sign on for that.”

Mel rocked sideways to shoulder check me. “Too late. You’ve been drafted.”

We sat by one of the camp fires, watching as my cousin’s men enjoyed a night of revelry. The meat that had been roasted over spits was nearly all gone but somehow they still found more ale and mead.

“At least now that we know where Shevy is, the day we go home is closer.”

“I’m pretty sure your mother would let you go home any time you want.”

She gave me her patented ‘don’t be stupid’ look. “I’m not leaving here without my best friend.”

“Okay. I was just pointing it out. Just ask your mother and you could be curled up in your own bed by morning.”

“Not happening.” She toyed with weaving some random flowers she’d picked into a chain. “Party crasher, ten o’clock.”

I looked over in that direction. “Pretty sure a king can crash his own party.” I smiled that direction. “Nice shin dig. Your men know how to celebrate.”

Robb smiled. “That they do.” He gestured to the lean man beside him. “I wanted to introduce you to Theon Greyjoy. He’s the son of Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands and was my father’s ward. We grew up together. He just got back from a scouting mission.”

Theon was maybe a bit taller than both of us and very lean. There was something about him that felt... distrustful. I couldn’t quite figure out why I felt that way.

Still, no need to be rude. I got to my feet and offered a hand. “Jae Rogan. Pleasure to meet you. This is Melody Pierce. I’d introduce you to the others, but I’m not sure where all fo them are at the moment.”

He shook my hand. “I met two of them. Your man Mark and that giant traveling with you.”

“Kealoha is a little hard to miss.”

“Too right.” He was watching me, looking less than comfortable. “Not to be a rude cunt, but how do we know you’re who you claim?”

Robb shook his head. “I tried explaining it to him, but he didn’t believe me. And the device stopped working.”

Well, why not. “It should be recharged by now.” I nodded an invitation towards the central tent for our little corner of the camp and we ducked inside. I found my tablet and thumbed it on, pulling up the video files. Theon took a moment to goggle at it and I fought a smirk as Robb leaned over to start the playback like a pro. I was betting he’d fumbled with it at first, but I wouldn’t take away his cool points.

Theon watched as I poured some ale for everyone. I tried not to listen to my mother’s voice as she railed against her captors, but it still felt like hooks in my heart. 

“Fuck me.” Theon set the tablet down as it was still going. The one after my birth was a recording of one of the teams encountering and cutting off the man who had taken me from the delivery suite and had been trying to get away with me. That part was entirely in English, so they couldn’t understand it. I knew the piece because of the beautiful note that sang out over the voices. My aunt’s voice. A siren song to disarm and seduce.

_”Where are you going?”_

_”I...I am to bring the baby to our secondary location.”_

_”He’s beautiful. May I hold him? It would make me very happy.”_

_”Yes! Yes, you can hold him! Anything.”_

He’d handed me over to my aunt. I remembered the video showed her cradling me to her chest as Alessandro motioned for the men to take the man into custody. His screams begging not to be taken away from Catalina’s side ringing out as they took him away. He gave them the location of the fall back location under interrogation less than an hour after that.

The playlist was over. Theon sat back and accepted a tankard of ale. “I see what you meant about what they did to Ser Arthur Dayne. House Dayne would shit themselves if they knew that was what befell the Sword of the Morning.” He took a deep pull of his ale. “So would your father if he’d known what happened to his sister.”

“Yes, he would have.” Robb looked over Theon’s head to me. “But he would have been pleased to know that his sister’s child survived.”

Greyjoy looked up at me as well. “And seems to have done all right. Robb says you were taken in by another family.”

“He was.” Mel took the tablet and called up the electronic Record of Houses. It was an eBook that acted as a manifest of registered houses. The dead tree version was broken by countries, then by regions within those countries and then by cities. Everything listed alphabetically. The electronic version was a lot easier to search through. She called up the listing for House Rogan which included a pic of us together. “There. House Rogan. That’s Connor and Nevada, then Sean, Liam, Siobhan and Jae. And that’s Amorosa, Connor’s mother.”

Robb picked up the tablet. “So that’s your sister.”

“She’s pretty.”

Shevy was gorgeous. I could understand why Crawford might have become obsessed with her. I was still going to feed him to a swarm of rats. “Thank you.”

Robb frowned. “Is your family in here?”

Mel blinked. “Uhm... yeah.” She took the tablet up and pulled up House Pierce. “There. Peter, my dad, and Mom. That portrait behind them to the left is Lucinda Pierce, Dad’s first wife. Those two, Alex and Anthony, the twins they had together. This one is Byron and that one is Tyler. The woman standing to Dad’s right is Christina Pierce, technical my grandmother by law, but she doesn’t care for me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not a pyrokenetic and I’m not her grandchild by blood. Unlike Dad and the twins, she’s never really accepted me, and she doesn’t care much for my mother. Dad’s in charge of the family, however, so there’s not a damn thing she can do about us.”

That wasn’t entirely true. “She could set you on fire?”

Mel bared her teeth. “And I could summon things with claws and teeth to rip her apart. I’m a prime. What I summon doesn’t vanish just because I die.”

Robb and Theon blinked at her. Greyjoy looked at me. “Can she really do that?”

“Yeah, she can do that. I talked her out of calling up something to kill Lannister.”

“That’s good. Cursed is the Kinslayer.” It sounded like the kind of saying that everyone knew and just accepted as gospel.

“Then he’d better keep a fucking civil tongue in his head.” Her grumbling had a dark edge to it.

Yep, she was still pissy. I looked at my cousin. “I think a better idea is to keep the two of them out of view of one another.”

“There seems to be wisdom in that.”

He looked about to say something else when the maester barged into the tent. “Your Grace, a raven from one of our scouts watching Harrenhall.”

Of course they would have scouts, but I thought we were a bit away from them. “How far away is that place anyway?”

Robb accepted the scroll. “A single rider could get there in about four days of hard ride. I have my man close by, integrated in the nearest village.” He unrolled it and read the message. His brow furrowed. “He says there is no more Harrenhall.” His voice was puzzled.

I thought my heart would burst from my chest. I suspect Mel felt the same because she came up on her chair to crow ‘She’s out!’

My cousin’s eyes snapped up to mine, and I saw fear and unease in them. “She can do such a thing? Your sister? She can level an entire castle?”

Sure, my being able to turn their horses against them and summon every predatory in a two mile area down upon their camp he could take in stride, but Siobhan tearing apart a building when he isn’t even there to see it scares him. “She can. Likely more than a castle. Our father served in the military during war time. They used him to level cities. They call him the Butcher of Merida. There were nearly three quarters of a million people in that city and by the next day there was nothing left standing.”

Greyjoy swallowed audibly and stood up to look over Robb’s shoulder. “What about the Mountain? Did she get him?”

“He says things were too unsettled to know who survived.” He handed the scroll to Theon. His gaze went distant. My cousin was applying this new information to his war and deciding what needed to change.

Melody grabbed my arm and tugged. “We need to find her. What are the chances they hooked her up with a telepath to teach her the language? She’ll be out there with no way to communicate.”

I nodded. “And she’ll be far away from home and scared. She might misread the intentions of someone who approaches her and attack.” I looked to my cousin. “How old is that scroll?”

Theon answered. “He’s got it marked mid morning today. The birds are fast.”

Of course they were. If they were similar to our own ravens, they could travel thirty miles per hour. A horse with a single rider could reach twenty to thirty miles per hour depending on breed, but could only hold it for two to three minutes before it became too taxing on them. A four day hard ride meant traveling twenty to thirty miles per day. That made Harrenhall as much as one hundred twenty miles from our current position. And Shevy could head out in any direction, either closer or further from us.

I looked over to where Shredder was settling in to sleep. Eagles were day time creatures, and unlike the animals native to Planetoss, I couldn’t see through his eyes. The camera would be limited in range unless we could put up more relays, which would take too long.

“I need a map. Something that we can mark out the path between Harrenhall and us. But not too big. It needs to be small enough to roll up and attach to an owl.”

Theon frowned. “An owl?” I was already moving out of the tent. I stood outside and sent my magic out into the surrounding woods. An owl, depending on the specific type, was as fast if not faster than a raven. I’d want a larger specimen for this. Something strong and hearty. I found what I wanted and extended an inquiry. Just as with every other creature I’d met since coming here, the bird met me halfway, the mind merging with mind seamlessly, and the world exploded in monochromatic detail. I asked her to come to me and felt myself lift from a branch to begin the flight. 

Disconnecting the full merger, I only had to wait about five minutes before I lifted my arm and a large tawny owl landed upon it. Her talons pierced my tunic and into my skin because I hadn’t been smart enough to wrap it up first. Oh well. 

“Hello, Beautiful.” I stroked her breast with the backs of my fingers. “Care to do a favor for me?”

She agreed. 

Greyjoy came running back form the command tent. I hadn’t noticed when he’d left ours. That was bad. I was usually more observant than that, even if I was trying to make friends with the local wildlife. He slowed and looked at me oddly with the new owl perched on my arm, but ducked inside. We followed.

Robb looked at the owl. This he was okay with. Exactly how did my cousin’s mind work? “Friend of yours?”

“She is now. She’s going to help me find Shevy.” I put her onto the back of one of the chairs to perch and fished out a handful of the meat treats I kept for Shredder. I looked at the map as Theon flattened it. Harrenhall was easy to find. I fished out one of our pens from our supplies and circled it. Atop it I wrote _This is what you broke_. “We’re... about here?” I pointed to about where I thought we were. Robb corrected me.

“I don’t fancy you marking where our camp is and sending it out.”

“I won’t.” I instead drew an arrow in the proper direction and wrote _Head this way, Stupid. Love, Jae. (PS: Take off the harness, she’s not staying)_. 

I had to trim the map down a bit, leaving major landmarks that would help her to orientate herself. That done, I grabbed Shredder’s harness and started adjusting the straps. “Sorry about this, Lovely, but I need you to carry something for me.” It took a bit of adjustment but I got the harness onto the owl. She was thicker in the body, but not as long. “Try your wings.” She did. Impressive span. She was able to move freely. “Good girl.” I gave her another treat then grabbed the courier pouch from where I kept Shredder’s gear. I folded up the map and put it inside. Melody was furiously scribbling something in a notebook Beth kept around to keep track of info we encountered. She signed her name and tore out the page, folding it up and handing it to me. I added it. It didn’t surprise me she wanted to let Shevy know she was here. 

“Can we send anything else?”

I didn’t want to make the weight too great. It would tax the owl too quickly. “We can add a couple of the protein bars. And a lighter. I doubt my sister knows how to start a campfire.”

“Right.” She got into our rations and dug out some of the protein bars, which were her only source of her precious chocolate. Inferior chocolate, but it did shut up her whining for a time. Though apparently no one ever taught Melody that a ‘couple’ was two. Three was a ‘few’. I let her add them, though. It wouldn’t be too much more.

Hefting the pouch, I judged the weight. It wouldn’t be too much. “Sorry about this, Love. We need to get this to my sister.” I attached the pouch to the harness and carried the owl outside to let her do a test flight. She didn’t like it, but she could manage the weight. I gave her a few more treats and gave her a perch one the wagon nearby. Looking around, I found a stick and started carving into the ground.

“What are you doing?” Theon’s voice inquired but it was Mel who answered.

“Magic circle. Hard surface and chalk is better, but we don’t have it, so he has to make do. It may take him hours to get to Harrenhall and then hours after that to find Siobhan. He’ll need to the extra power to keep bonded with the owl. That reminds me, why not use Shredder?”

I kept scratching the circle into the ground. “I can’t see through his eyes. House Swift may want to rethink their idea of reaching out to the animal houses. Their people were right. The animals here are easier to work with. I can’t see through Tyrus’ eyes. Or Foster’s or Shredder’s. But I can see through Ghost’s and anything else native to here. That is definitely something the other theriomancers would be interested in.”

“Then why not use Ghost?”

“Because a wolf can’t travel much father than a good horse. An owl can cover the same distance in an hour than a wolf needs an entire day for.”

“Wait, you could spy on anyone through the animals while still in camp?” Greyjoy sounded excited at the idea. “Where can we get a Warg?”

“Apparently I could do that with a little training. Otherwise I suspect we’d have to go north of the Wall and hire one of the Wildlings. You’re welcome to try.”

“Very funny.”

This was taking longer than with chalk. I suppose I could have burned the circle into the grass, but then I’d have to rest up. That would be the epitome of ‘fine manipulation’ which was a lot harder than just torching things.

Robb was standing outside the outer ring of the circle, watching me. “I do wish we had a way of knowing who she might have taken out when she destroyed the castle. It would be good to be rid of the Mountain, though I suspect you have more right to his head than anyone else.”

“Why’s that?”

“He’s the one who murdered your half-siblings.” I paused and looked up. “That was what caused a rift between my father and Robert for a time. When they reached the city, Lannister had already taken it. The Mountain had murdered the prince and princess before raping and killing Princess Elia, their mother. Father wanted him held accountable for the deed.”

“And what did Baratheon say?”

“He said he only saw dragon spawn. His hatred for the Targaryens knew now bound.” And yet he was king and my uncle had supported him. “After that, Father left with his men to search for your mother. Obviously they never found them. He only found the tower and signs of a battle. Eventually he had no choice but to return home to sit as the Lord of Winterfell. I know he always regretted it. He never stopped mourning her.”

I felt that twinge of pain again, the one I had felt when I had first watched the video of Lyanna. It wasn’t has harsh as what I felt when Shevy was taken, but I hadn’t known her all my life as I did my sister. She was my family by blood, but my family was now the Rogans. They were all I had known. “I’m sorry he was left to feel that pain. I’m told too much time had passed between my birth and when my aunt’s people found her. They did all they could, but she was too far gone.”

“Your aunt’s men? Not your father’s?”

“Catalina Baylor is the Warden of Texas. What was going on there was definitely against the National Assembly laws.”

I looked up from my scratching and stared at Mel.

“What?” She gave a shrug.

I continued looking at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Tat told me. She figured it out after Catalina got involve with that mess in Jersey Village. She said at first she thought Linda was fucking Montgomery, and that was why he agreed to hand over such a lucrative contract, but after it all settled out and the Wardens showed up at the Assembly to take Sherryl into custody, she realized that your aunt had to be working for the Warden. The shift in power from Linus Duncan to Catalina Baylor wasn’t as subtle as they would like to think. No one talks about it, the identity of the Wardens is supposed to be confidential, but a lot of people know who your aunt really is.”

A sigh escaped me. She wouldn’t like hearing that.

Mel looked back to Robb. “The National Assembly is the governing body over all us freaky magic users. We have laws we have to follow. The Wardens are the investigative and enforcement arm of those laws. One warden per state, uhm.. comparable to your regions such as the Reach and the North, and each warden can have a deputy. They have the authority to pull rank on just about every other law enforcement body in the country if the crime being committed is in violation of the National Assembly and poses a risk to the general wellbeing of the rest of the population. Experimenting on the serum and trying to make stronger mages or monsters is such a risk. The Wardens would have been in charge of that assault on the compound.”

“What she said.” I was almost done with the inner markings. Catalina would be watching this whole mess carefully. Dustin Swift was still a wanted man in their books. He’d helped secure test subjects for experimentation with the Osiris Serum. The Office of the Wardens wanted to capture him, interrogate him and then dispose of him. He wouldn’t be going into a prison somewhere. He’d cease to be. I hoped they’d contract Mom to do the interrogation part. It would be good for her, and she’d make sure nothing was missed. If he was lucky, she’d lobotomize him in the process so he wouldn’t be aware of what was going on when they executed him.

I finished the circle and tossed the stick outside of it. Then I stripped off my tunic and unfastened the vest under it.

“I’d been wanting to ask what that garment was.” Robb watched as I tossed them and the soft undershirt all to Melody, leaving myself bare from waist up.

“Security vest. Repels stabbing and slashing attacks as well as ballistic.”

“Oh, I should snap a picture right now. There are a lot of girls who fantasize about what you look like. I’d break Instagram.”

I made a rude gesture to Melody who just snorted a laugh in response as she folded up my clothes. 

“You’ll freeze.” My cousin sounded concern.

“I won’t. Not once I get started.” I sat down with my legs crossed in the center of the circle and fed my magic into it. The lines started to glow with a soft, pale blue, first in the middle then bleeding out into the rest of the circle, claiming it. Once the connection was solid, I felt the punch of magic flowing back into me. I rarely felt cold, though I’d rarely been expose to this much cold save for a few trips to Alaska to visit the property Dad kept there for the super-intelligent magic grizzly bears (yes, you read that correctly) the army had created and later decided weren’t as bright of an idea as they had hoped to live out their days in comfort and security, and one to Yellowstone during the Winter. Still, the constant thrum of my fire magic always kept me comfortable, adjusting automatically as my needs dictated. The result is that I started to steam slightly in the cold air. Oh, well. No help for it.

I slipped into the magic easily and reached out for the Owl. She met me halfway, just as before, and the world became that high definition, monochromatic view again. I spread my wings and took off in the direction of Harrenhall.

While doing it this way would allow me to stay connected for a very long time, the circle constantly magnifying my magic and feeding it back to me, it also made me less aware of my surroundings. I heard Melody explaining how the circle worked to Robb and Theon as my mind was mostly watching the tree line underneath me. I was becoming quite fond of flying. It was a liberating experience.

“What’s he doing?” Mark’s voice. 

“He’s flying an owl towards Harrenhall to try and find Siobhan.” Mel.

“Apparently his sister leveled the castle this morning. I received a raven about it.”

“It looks like my boss was right.” Stephen. I wasn’t as familiar with him, but he wasn’t Mark and Augustine Montgomery did say that Siobhan was likely to cause mass amounts of destruction.

There was a sigh. “Let me get a chair.” Mark again. “And I’ll have to tell Alessandro about this.” They must have waited until he came back out.

“Why will you need to tell his uncle?”

“Because he should have sent for me before doing this. He’s sitting in a circle in plain view and unprotected. He should have a guard.” I was faintly aware of something being set down to my left, likely the chair. “The whole point of putting Alessandro in charge of our group was because they wanted someone the kid would listen to.”

That was fair. I knew my uncle. I respected him. And if I didn’t obey him, Mother and her sisters would know and that was something I’d want to avoid. They were scary, scary women.

And Alessandro was deadly. Before he settled down in wedded bliss with Lina, he was an assassin. Not just any assassin, but one that only hunted down other assassins. He was their boogeyman. They called him the ‘Artisan’ because he had made death into an art form. They feared him, and for good reason. And as good as Michael was, his dear little Frida was a chip off the ole block. The combination of the Antistasi talent to copy any weapon needed as well as nullify the magic of anyone she faced off against coupled with the Magus Sagittarius magic that made sure she never missed made her into the perfect killer. And all that lethality was hidden behind a lovely face with a waterfall of inky black curls and bright blue eyes the size of saucers. 

Okay, maybe not the size of saucers, but they were very big. The little monster looked like a damn porcelain doll. It was creepy when you knew what she was capable of. She might be my favorite cousin.

I was still soaring over the trees. Occasionally a clearing would be underneath, a field or a small house. Here there a tiny village. This was going to take a while.

Sometime later Terri’s voice floated to me. “What is he doing?”

“He’s flying out an owl to look for his sister. Apparently she leveled a castle this morning.”

“Did he actually tell you before he started this or did you find out later?”

“Found out later.”

“You two cut him some slack. His sister’s missing. He’s worried for her.”

“Miss Pierce, our job is to keep you two idiots alive.”

“Did you just call me an ‘idiot?’

Mark sounded unperturbed at what was probably a glare from a dangerous mage. “You’re young and inexperienced. If you were two people who enlisted in the military at eighteen and had training along with a mission or two under your belt, I’d be less worried. Instead, we’re looking after two young primes raised in luxury who have never faced a serious threat before. Jae’s reaction when he learned his sister had been kidnapped was to set his school on fire and you keep threatening to kill people. You need watching over.”

All I heard through my scouting was Mel’s distinctive ‘hmph’ which usually came coupled with a tilt of her jaw and hands either to the hips or crossed over her torso. It was the sound she made when she knew you were right but she didn’t want to actually admit it. Shevy did the same thing. Often they did it to one another. Theirs was a strange friendship. I had no doubt that either of them would move mountains for the other, Mel’s readiness to come into an alien land to look for her being proof of that, but sometimes they seemed bent on showing one another up.

If Shevy did marry Kea, Mel was going to hate having her so far away.

I was drifting on an upward current, my eyes noting everything beneath me. Owl vision may lack color, but it was as sharp as my talons. That was how I could see the tiny furred bodies that I would usually hunt this time of day. But my belly was full of those delicious morsels I’d been offered and I felt no hunger. I did not need to hunt. I needed to reach the place where the castle used to stand and from there find my sister.

“What is he doing?” Catalina? 

“He’s looking for his sister. I received a raven from my scouts a few marks ago. Apparently she destroyed Harrenhall this morning.”

A feminine sigh. “I had hoped that we would find her before any mass destruction. I suppose that was too much to ask for.”

“Your Grace, allow me to introduce my wife, Catalina Baylor, head of House Baylor.”

So it was Aunt Lina. She must have really not liked that update if she came over here herself. 

“I am pleased to meet you, Lady Baylor.”

“And I you, but you can drop the ‘Lady’. I’m an American. We don’t really do titles. Feel free to call me Catalina. Or just ‘Lina’.”

I was vaguely aware of someone crouching outside of my circle. “Did he give any idea how long he’d be like this?” Alessandro.

“I told him a single rider could make Harrenhall in four days hard ride and he mentioned that any owl could over in a day what a horse and rider could in an hour, so at least that long.”

“So at minimum four hours, but since she could have set out in any direction from there he’ll likely then fall to circular search patterns. Do we know when she got out?”

“The raven was sent at mid-morning. He was in a small village nearby, so I doubt it could have been before day break.”

“On level ground a person can usually walk about a mile in ten to fifteen minutes. On hostile, wooded and unfamiliar ground, not much faster and likely a good deal slower. And without a reference point, she could end up walking in circles.” My uncle sighed. “He’ll keep at it until he drops. That’s a good circle and he’s very strong. He may be at this all night.”

“He should be limited by what the owl can sustain. He will need to let it rest it’s wings from time to time at least.” Catalina was right there. I would need to rest my wings from time to time.

“Mark, I will relieve you in about five hours. Will you be okay with that?”

“Yes, Prime Alessandro.”

Their voices faded away as I continued to fly.

I did have to stop and rest a few times. Long enough to rest my wings and to get some water. I tried to keep these breaks as brief as was comfortable so as to lessen the amount of time she had to wander from the site. She already had a significant head start.

The moon was high in the sky when I finally came to what was left of Harrenhall. It was little more than ruble and bodies. The untended fires had caught thatch and hay so that now anything that could burn in the place was, lighting up the sky and carrying the scent of charred leather and flesh on the smoke. 

Alessandro had the right of it with a circular hunting pattern. I started making the slow loops around the wreckage from the center. There were too many footsteps going in too many directions for me to know which was hers. I had no doubt she’d gotten out. When fully into your power, you create null space, a sort of wall between you and reality that nothing and no one could cross. Even if her attack had killed everyone else, Shevy would have survived, wrapped in a bubble of magic and air until she let herself down.

I worked my way outwards bit by bit. Past the killing field and over the woods. My search pattern was growing wider and wider, and I was beginning to worry that I might have missed them, when I saw a group of five people stopped around a campfire. Five?

I tilted my wings and made my way through the upper branches until I could come to rest above them. They were chattering amongst themselves even though sensible people should have been sleeping by now.

“You’re mad, you do know that, right?”

“Well you didn’t have to come with me, Stupid!”

“You watched her tear a whole bloody castle apart and then decided to follow after her!”

“She was all alone! The Lannisters were holding her prisoner and she got out. Good on her. But you’ve seen her. She doesn’t even know our language and she was going to be out in these woods where she might run across _more_ Lannister men.”

“I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself. And why did you come?”

“A man still owes a girl a debt.”

Didn’t know the language and tore the castle a part!

I launched myself from the branch and swooped down onto the group, aiming for the taller female with long, dark hair. Three of the others squawked in surprise. The fourth merely watched, though he held himself as though ready to strike.

She should be sleeping. She looked on her last legs and her hair was a mess that was sure to bring about some rather inventive swearing when she finally got around to combing it out. She blinked at me, then saw the harness. _”Jae?_. Sitting up, she began to unfasten the courier pouch and extract the contents. I watched her unfolded the map and let out a cry of relief. She moved from her spot towards the others, smoothing the map piece onto the ground and pointing to the circle around Harrenhall. _”Can you read a map? Is this where we were being held?”_

The other female, a young teen with short dark hair and wearing what I would usually expect to be on a boy rather than girl frowned at the map. “Who trains an owl to act as a raven?” She looks at the map and blink. “This is a map of the Riverlands. That’s Harrenhall!” She looked to my sister, then over her shoulder and the larger of the two young men. “Gendry! Someone’s sent her a map! Look!”

“What of it?”

“They’ve drawn an arrow, see? It’s heading back towards the direction of Riverwood. She must have people there! My mother’s family is there!”

“First you chase after a witch who can level an entire castle now you want to follow a map brought to the same witch by an owl?”

“I bet it belongs to a warg.”

“A what?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “A warg. A person who can’t talk to animals and share their minds! Didn’t anyone ever teach you the old stories? They’re full of such people. And the Wildlings North of the Wall still have them.”

“More witches.”

“They’re not witches, Stupid, they’re wargs.”

Shevy rolled her eyes. _”Okay, I still don’t understand a damn thing you’re saying. Was that a ‘yes’ on the map?_. She tapped the flattened map piece with her finger. The younger girl grinned and pointed to the arrow, then off to the proper direction.

“We’re headed the wrong way. If we’re to follow this map, we need to go that way.”

My sister’s shoulders relaxed as she spoke and she nodded. With nimble fingers she removed the harness form me and stroked my head with the back of her fingers, not the front side. Just as I had taught her. Never touch the flight feathers and only pet with the back of the hand so that less oils get onto the feathers you do touch. _”Thank you, Baby Brother. I’ll see you soon.”_

She got up and was about to head that direction when the girl called out to her and grabbed her hand. “We should sleep first. It will be easier to see after dawn.” Siobhan frowned at her. She let her hand go and placed both of hers together, tilting her head to the side and resting her cheek against them to mimic sleeping. “Sleep first.”

My sister was scared, in a foreign land and couldn’t understand anything being said to her. But she wasn’t an idiot. She sighed, nodded and sat back down to look through the rest of the contents. She tested the lighter, three of her companions gasping in wonder while the fourth merely watched on. She read the brief note from Mel, wiping a tear from her eye and whisper _Damn idiot_ under her breath. She looked at the three protein bars, reading the labels. She knew the others were watching her closely, curious about this stranger in their midst. As I was detaching myself from the owl to let her return to her life, Shevy was breaking two fo the bars into halves and sharing them with the others while eating the last for herself.

I came back to my own body in weariness and the stiff ache that comes from sitting in one place too long. 

“Careful.” My uncle’s accented voice drifted to my ears. “Your legs will be asleep from all that. Move slowly.”

I groaned as I straightened them out. “I found her. Got the map to her.” I heard the tent flap open and someone come out behind me. “She’s not alone. There are four other people with her. Three men and a girl. The girl and one of the others seemed young, probably still in their teens. There was one that argued with the girl who seemed older, but likely not more than twenty. The other... he was different. Didn’t talk as much. Only spoke one sentence and he referred to himself in the third person. Between Shevy and the girl, they agreed to set out this way at dawn.”

“Well, that’s a move in the right direction.” I leaned back, still not trusting my legs to hold me up if I stood, and gazed up at my favorite aunt. 

“I thought I heard you. You came over?”

“Clearly. I didn’t like hearing that Crawford was working with the locals. Neither did the members of House Swift working from headquarters.” She reached down the same time as Alessandro and they helped me to my feet, catching me when I wobbled from the discomfort. “Easy there. Let’s walk you around a bit. It’s not good to be still that long. You could have given yourself a blood clot.”

I did as they bade, moving slowly at first, then with more confidence once the circulation was fully restored. Lina offered me a couple of aspirin to ward off oncoming headache as Alessandro went to tell Robb I was ‘back’.

“What time is it?” 

“Well, if these people used watches, it’d be the equivalent of two in the morning. You were under for nearly seven hours.”

“I feel like it.” I was exhausted. “I could sleep for a year.”

“Not before you fill in your cousin. We promised him that we’d let him know when you got back into your own head.”

She got me back into the tent, gently bullied me back into a tunic now that my magic wasn’t warding off the chill and broke out an MRE. Creamy spinach fettuccine. She slipped the entree into the little heater pouch and added water to start the reaction to warm it up for me. I would have preferred beef stew, but I was so hungry I could eat a boot.

I was just taking my first bite when Alessandro returned with Robb. Theon was with him, looking at me with a mix of curiosity and unease. “Did you find her?”

I nodded as I swallowed the bite. “I did. She’s with four other people. Only caught one name, Gendry. Three males, one female. The female looks to be in her early to mid teens. Short hair and dressed like a boy. Probably to avoid any predatory behavior from strangers.”

“Did she understand the map?”

“She and the girl figured it out between them. They’ll start this direction in the morning. She said her mother’s family were this direction.”

Robb nodded. “Probably a girl from one fo the Riverlands villages or towns. Anything else?”

I considered this around another mouthful. In hindsight it was rude of me to eat while answering a king’s questions, but I was too tired and too hungry to give a damn. “Not sure I liked the third guy. The other two and the girl seemed young. Out of the element but determined to survive. He was... older. I got a dangerous vibe from him. He acted like someone who was taking note of everything around him so he’d know who he had to kill. Only said one sentence and that was in third person.”

“What do you mean.”

I recalled what I had heard. “One of the boys asked him why he was still there and he said ‘A man still owes a girl a debt’. I got the impression that he owed the girl with them a debt and was staying until he had repaid it.”

Robb frowned. “That is an odd way of speaking. I’m not familiar with any culture that speaks that way. I can mention it to the maester on the morrow to see if it is something he has heard of in his studies.”

“We should get a search party together in the morning to start heading that way. I can take the wolves.”

“No.”

I blinked up at my aunt. Did she just say that? “What do you mean?”

She checked her watch. “Your father’s team check in is due in another ten hours. At which time your mother and Sean will bring him up to speed and confirm that we have determined your sister is in Westeros and not Essos. He’ll pull his team home, and once Michael has rested up and can open the way, will likely come over here with whatever personnel he feels are needed.”

“She’s out in the woods with only a lighter and a map! We sent her some protein bars but she split those when the other four!”

“Not to mention she’s unarmed.” We all looked at Theon. He shrugged. “Look at him,” he nodded at me. “He’s dead tired and he was just sitting in a circle talking to an owl. She’s bound to be knackered after tearing down a whole bloody castle.”

“She did look less than lively.”

Lina gave me the same look she used on the Terrible Trio when she wanted to them to shut up. “Yes, Siobhan will be weary, but my... good brother?... is the most paranoid man you will likely ever meet. All of his children have been drilled and trained on how to survive. This isn’t a pampered lady who has been catered to by servants her entire life. The Houses war with one another and all of our children are taught how to fight, even if our magic fails us. She’ll survive long enough to get Rogan over here.”

She had a point. Still, if not a full search party, I could still take Foster and the wolves. We’d likely cover more ground on our own at any....

“No.”

I looked up at my aunt, trying for my most innocent expression. “What?”

She arched a brow at me. Behind her, Alessandro grinned. Likely glad to have this particular version of his wife aimed at someone other than him. “Don’t ‘what’ me? I’ve known you since the day you were born. I see what you’re thinking.”

I blinked. “I didn’t know you were a telepath, too.”

“Jaehaerys Rogan, you will _not_ go off on your own. You will wait until your father is here. Do I make myself clear?”

It was like she was psychic or something. “Yes, ma’am.”

The tent flaps opened and Kea folded his large frame inside. “Any news?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My assumption is that most people reading this are GoT fans. For those who don’t know the other world I’ve crossed it with, please see https://ilona-andrews.com/hidden-legacy/. I highly recommend it.
> 
> Don’t let the ‘paranormal romance’ tag or the shirtless guys on the covers scare you. It’s a husband and wife writing team. Though the few sex scenes can be explicit, it’s mostly action, intrigue and mystery.
> 
> Jae’s new mom is the blond with the pretty rock around her neck. Catalina is the brunette with the dog and Auntie Bella is the unassuming pretty girl on the right who could _never_ turn into a hulk beast able to tear down buildings. (/sarcasm)

I proved to be more exhausted than I’d thought. Enough so that my cousin sent his wife and queen to check on me personally. I managed to open my eyes enough to see that it was her and mumble something that wasn’t intelligible. I never really was a morning person.

Melody, however, had learned how to ‘handle’ me from Siobhan. She jumped onto my sleeping pallet and shook me by the shoulders while yelling “Get up! Get up! Get up!”

I flipped her halfway across the tent which got me a scolding from Queen Talisa and a hail of giggles from Mel. She was impossibly perky and bright eyed. Knowing that we were so close to getting Shevy back was making her hyper.

“Can you drug her? Please?”

Talisa leveled a stern but kind look in my direction. My cousin really knew how to pick them. “You’ve slept through breakfast and it’s very nearly the time for the noon day meal. Get up.”

I groaned and rolled up. It was fine. I had pulled on a clean undershirt and pants before falling into bed so I wasn’t indecent. Well, not by our measures. Not sure if i was to those of Westeros. The women here were always drowning in fabric. All three of our women had groused about it at least once. Terri most of all. She missed her trousers. They’d compromised by sending her split skirts. As long as she wasn’t doing anything too athletic, such as running or kicking the crap out of someone, she looked like she was wearing a dress. The men, however, seemed to have more freedom. They were as thickly covered as they were mainly because of the cool climate.

Once she was satisfied that I was going to get out of bed, Talisa left me to Mel’s tender mercies. She immediately sat beside me. “How did she look?”

“Exhausted. Understandable after blowing up a castle. It looked like a big one from what was left of it.”

“Did she look like they at least fed her?”

“Yeah. Other than needing sleep, she looked good.”

She let out a relieved breath. Out of instinct, I reached over and rubbed her back in reassurance.

“You slept through a hellacious argument this morning.”

“Between whom?”

“Kealoha, Alessandro and Catalina. He wanted to set out to go looking for her.”

“Lina shut that down last night.”

“I think he’d hoped she would have changed her mind after sleeping on it.”

I gave a snort. “Not likely.”

“So... I was thinking....”

“She already shut that down, too. She knew I was thinking about it before I even said anything.”

Melody frowned. I understood. I wanted to go out there as well. “What exactly did she tell Kea?”

“That he was not to tear out looking for Shevy on his own. Then he said he could take Mark and maybe someone your cousin trusted, like that Theon guy, and she shut that down as well.”

“That sounds about right. I was told that I wasn’t to go out looking for her by myself but wait for my father to get here. She’s pretty sure when they check in today he’ll pull out of Essos and come over here as soon as Prime Swift is charged back up.”

Mel worried her lower lip. “She did, huh?”

“Yep.”

I met her gaze. She was very much like my sister. Sometimes it was almost as like they shared a brain. 

“We should get you something to eat. Real food. Not an MRE.”

“Hey, some of those are pretty good!”

She rolled her eyes. “Weirdo.” She smacked my shoulder and got up. I put on my boots and pulled a tunic over my head before going out to join her.

~***~

“You look ready to tear this whole camp apart with your bare hands.”

Kea looked up at me. I’d never seen him this... surly. “I probably could right about now.”

I sat down on the log next to him and offered him one of the steaming mugs of hot, strong tea. “I feel ya. I wasn’t happy when she shut me down last night.”

He took a deep drink and watched the various camp fires. “Your cousin has been tied up with his lords all day. She struck a hell of a blow against Lannister, wrecking that castle. The general wisdom is to strike while the iron’s hot.”

“Sounds like a good idea. It’s what I’d do. Hit them before they have a chance to regroup.”

“He got into a rather polite but stern discussion with your aunt and uncle this morning. He wanted you to do your thing and see where the troops may have run to. They told him that it wasn’t our place to get involved.”

“I bet that went over well.”

“About as well as you’d expect.”

I rolled the tea in my mouth for a moment before swallowing. “Gives me an idea, though.” Pushing up from the log I headed towards the main tent for our little group. Kea got up to follow. We both came in to find Lina, Alessandro and Bethany bending over a map of Westeros. They all looked up in our direction.

“I see you finally rolled out of bed.” Lina smiled. She looked like she hadn’t slept very well since this whole mess had started. “How’s your head?”

“Fine. I bit cloudy like cold medicine, but fine. I think we should help Robb with scouting.”

Beth shook her head. “No. We can’t get involved.”

“The Lannister men likely scattered in all directions. They’re armed and they know the area. A group of them could cross Shevy’s path and she’s not alone. She’s got four others with her, two of them are just kids.”

They all exchanged looks of concern. Alessandro gave a nod in my direction. “He’s right. If she’s got kids with her, even if she doesn’t know them, Shevy’s likely to go out of her way to protect them. And there’s the risk she may misinterpret actions from otherwise harmless people and attack. It may be better if we know where any potential problems are coming from.”

“They didn’t download the language for her.” Lina looked back at me. “She can’t understand them and they can’t understand her. She’s already on her own in a foreign world and stressed out. The language barrier isn’t going to do her any favors.”

My aunt sighed. I could tell from her expression she was going to side with us. Even if it was just to keep an eye on Shevy. 

The Baylor sisters had carved their own way through the world and they were all the closer for it. Should the worst happen and one of them die, the others would swoop in to care for the kids left behind. In that same vein, none of them wanted to have to tell one of her sisters that she didn’t do everything in her power to protect one of us. 

“Fine, but mind the over sharing. And finish eating, first. You tapped yourself out last night. I’m not sure you should be pushing yourself again so soon.”

“Kealoha could be useful as well.” Alessandro nodded to the behemoth just behind me. “Robb’s men will likely come across scattered Lannister soldiers. He can smooth over and improve interrogations.” 

“I’m more than willing to help.” Uncle Al gave him a wink over his wife’s shoulder in response. Well, if he was still interested in marrying Shevy after all this mess, he had two votes of support so far. I’d back him.

“We’ll offer your services to the king if Jae finds you some targets.”

“Why wait? They have Jamie Lannister now. I could start with him as a show of good faith.”

“Do we know if he was at Harrenhall?”

“Maybe not, but he may know where his father’s men were expected to fall back to if something happened. That could give us an idea of where is the most dangerous.”

I noticed the frown that was marring Bethany’s face. “What is it?”

“We need to know where the Mountain is. If your sister didn’t take him out, he needs to be neutralized as quickly as possible. Army camps are crap at keeping secrets. Every time scouts or messengers are sent out, the number of people who know about you increases. He’s Tywin’s attack dog. He’ll target you if he has the chance to do so. The same with your cousin, and given his reputation, he’ll force Robb to watch as he rapes Talisa before cutting the baby out of her.”

There was a twinge of magic and an orange flash that was so quick it could almost be missed, and Alessandro was holding a Walther PPQ M2 in his hands. A copy of one of the few firearms we had in our gear, duplicated down to the ammunition. The copies vanished once he got out of range, so it was safer to keep them secured in other gear for him to copy as need be as it decreased the chance of accidentally leaving one behind. “Sounds like someone I should meet.”

Catalina gave him a fond smile. I was glad they were my family and loved me. I’d be scared shitless of them otherwise.

“Kealoha has a point, though. Jamie Lannister is his father’s eldest son. He would likely know what the Lannister banner men would do. He can get it out of him without too much trouble, and without him even being aware it was done if we prefer.”

Lina nodded. “I’ve seen Neva do that. I’ve also seen her leave a harden soldier curled up in a ball crying like a baby.” She narrowed her eyes. “It would be a place to start, though. If nothing else, we’d have information to give Connor when he arrives. How exact is your family’s targeting with the portals?”

“Depends on the level of the mage. I’m pretty spot on. Michael’s a prime, so I would expect the same. They have our coordinates. If they opt to come over then they’ll do it pretty much on top of where we came through last night.”

“Okay, then. We’ll get Kea set up with Lannister and then Jae, you make friends with the local wildlife and see if you can’t scope out what’s going down between here and your sister.”

“I can take him over to Jamie if you want to talk to Robb. I’ve already met the man. I could soften him up for Kea by letting him sneer at me a bit.”

“After you eat some more.”

“Yes Ma’am.” I gave her a salute, earning me an eye roll from her and a snigger from Mark where he sat nearby working on what was probably a field report for Dad. Kea and I both grabbed another bowl of the simple stew simmering over the camp fire and some of that morning’s bread, wolfing it down before heading over to Ser Jamie’s less than comfortable accommodations.

He was looking worse for wear. The man would benefit from a bath. Even his blond hair was a dingy shade of brown. “Ah, the Dragon Prince! How kind of you to grace me with your presence.” His eyes looked back at Kea who was unfolding a camp chair he’d brought with him. “I’ve seen you around. You’re the size of Ser Clegane, but you’ve the complexion of a Dornishman. What have they been feeding you down there?”

“Not from Dorne.” Kea sat down, his expression a neutral smile. “I came with him. I suppose you could say I’m a prince, though fortunately I have several cousins and a couple of uncles between me and the throne, so I don’t have to worry about that mess. My only job is to ferret out potential enemies to my family and to marry well.”

“More royalty. Westeros is lousy with princes and kings these days. Don’t tell me. You’re having trouble finding a bride because they’re too terrified to bed you. Afraid you’ll tear them apart?”

“Currently my problem is that someone kidnapped the woman I’m trying to court and your father let them stash her away in Harrenhall.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate. From the whispers and mutterings I’ve heard drifting around the camp, Harrenhall is no more.” Jaime turned his attention to me. “Your cousins doing?”

I hesitated for just a second. “My sister’s, more likely. The woman he’s trying to court.”

Lannister arched a brow, channeling as much of his innate smugness as he could manage. “You think your sister destroyed a castle.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. She can have a temper on her.” I looked back to Kea. “That’s something else you should keep in mind.”

He shrugged. “It’d be worth it just to get to be your brother.”

“Aww, thanks man!” I saw Robb approaching with Alessandro and Theon.

“Is there a point to this mummery? Not that I don’t appreciate the levity. This place is so oppressively dull.”

“Kealoha needs to ask you some questions.” I nodded as they drew closer.

Robb looked to Lannister only a moment before turning his attention back to me. “Your aunt says that you are able to assist after all.”

“We are. It helps that with the Lannister soldiers scattered about, it increases the likelihood they may cross Shevy’s path. That and her inability to speak your language makes her as dangerous as any of them. More so if we’re to be honest. It’s better to know where they are. Kea can get any additional information this one may have out of him.”

“You sound rather sure about that.” Lannister was in his full ponce mode now. “I think you overestimate your friend’s abilities.”

Robb looked to Kea. “You are certain you can get him to talk? No matter what I may feel about the Lannisters, it would be unseemly to do any permanent damage to a high lord’s firstborn son. Even this idiot.”

“I can. The question is how you prefer it to be done.”

“What are my options?”

“I can do it gently and he likely will have no memory of what was said or I can do it so that he remembers everything he told us. However the second is extremely brutal. Most who have endured it say they’d rather be tortured.”

Robb seemed to weigh the options, looking to me for confirmation. I realized then that, though I answered to Alessandro and, now, to Catalina, in his eyes I was his kin. I was the one standing there looking like a Stark, resembling his father and likely other members of the family. He knew I put my faith in my people, but if he was going to trust any of us it was going to be me.”

“He’s a Truthseeker, the same as my mother and sister. I’ve seen it done. He can coax the answers out of him without trauma but if you want him to be aware of what he told you, it won’t be pleasant. He’ll suffer no physical harm, but to have someone rip out the answers from your mind is a deep violation.”

“I see.” He looked at Lannister. “Do it. I want him aware of what he’s said in case we have to speak on it further.”

Kea got up and offered his camp chair to Robb. Using the subtle way he would likely remain seated and hold himself as though it was a pleasant conversation. It wasn’t necessary, but it did help. If he was going to go in full force, however, he didn’t to keep up any appearances. The king settled down to watch, Theon taking up a spot just behind him.

Lannister treated Kea to his best sneer. “So, what will it be. Pull my nails out with tongs? Hot poker to my feet? Or will you just use those massive fists to beat me bloody?”

“Nothing quite so common.” Kea pulled out a knife and bent down to start carving a circle into the earth. Why hadn’t I thought of that? It was a better idea than a random stick. He made a common amplification circle, nothing overly elaborate or specific to his house or his type of magic. Every mage was taught this one. 

“What is he doing?” Lannister frowned in confusion as Kea worked. If we were on asphalt or other smooth surface and working with chalk, he’d have knocked it out in under three minutes. Digging in hard ground with a Bowie knife it took closer to six. Once done, he kicked off his shoes and stood in the center of the circle. He sent a pulse of power into it and the lines filled with a vibrant green glow. Nice color. Mine was a pale gold and most of both Mom and Dad’s families ran blue. “What is this?”

Kea sent his power towards the holding pen and Lannister’s body locked into a rigid pose, eyes flying wide. When Kealoha spoke, his voice vibrated with his magic. “Where will your father’s men regroup after Harrenhall?”

“They will fall back towards Maidenpool. At least halfway.” His eyes remained wide, fear radiating from him as he struggled against the flow of magic. I’d seen Mom do this. It wasn’t pleasant. The fear in the target’s eyes was always unsettling, because you knew that their mind was being opened like a tin can. Those who went through this said it was akin to mental rape. Mom, Liam and Shevy all knew this. I was sure Kea did as well. Where Victoria Tremaine may have embraced her fearsome reputation, most others of her kind treated their abilities with the appropriate respect.

Robb fed Kea the questions he needed to know. How many men did his father have when he was last with them? Did any of the Riverland lords support him in secret? Did any of the Northern lords? I should have seen the next one coming. “What happened to Arya?”

Lannister’s face was reddened from the strain, his skin damp with sweat. “She escaped. Ran off the day we seized the rest of the Stark men. She was to be at dancing lessons, but it wasn’t dancing. Your father had her training with a Bravosi sword master. He held off Meryn and the others while she ran.” He grimaced. “My father was furious when Tyrion sent him word of that.”

Greyjoy let out a bark of laughter. “Not sure how Lady Stark will take that.” Robb’s eyes gleamed with pride, a fierce smile on his lips. He met my eyes and I knew he was recalling how I told him someone was slipping into Nymeria’s mind at night.

“One more thing; are you the father of Cersei’s children?”

He sneered, summoning up what little resistance he could to scowl before snarling ‘Yes! They’re mine! My sister would never have allowed that drunken sot of a king to paw at her.”

Robb nodded, still too elated over his sister to show the full brunt of any disgust. “That will be all. Thank you, Lord Kealoha.”

Kea released his hold on Lannister. The man threw himself back as far as his bindings would allow, eyes wild. “My apologies. It was necessary.”

“What the fuck are you?” He was shaking.

Kea’s voice was tinged with the same sadness I’d heard in Mom the few times I’d seen her work. “Just a different kind of monster.”

Alessandro scratched at his chin. “If Lannister’s men will go towards Maidenpool, then they’ll be headed the opposite direction of Shiobhan.”

“Save for any deserters.” Robb was mimicking the same action. “There would be some expected after a brutal routing, and they just saw a castle torn down. They’ll be scared and desperate. Best to look for them so we know what’s going on. Deserters will pillage where they roam.”

I gave him a nod in agreement. “I’ll get to it, then.”

“Good.” Alessandro watched as Kea mucked up the circle lines. “It will give you something to do until your father arrives. I would expect him by nightfall.”


End file.
